BUDAPEST, Hungary -- Some 70,000 people rallied in Budapest on Sunday in support of a Hungarian university founded by American billionaire George Soros that is seen as a target for Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban's illiberal policies.
The Hungarian-born Soros founded Central European University in 1991. Amendments to Hungary's higher-education law approved this month could force it to close or move.
The law, which passed through the parliament in less than a week, would require the university to change its name and open a campus in the United States. It also calls for binding agreements about the university between Hungary and the U.S.
Central European University is accredited in the U.S. and in Hungary, and students can earn degrees valid in both countries. The university currently enrolls more than 1,400 students from 108 countries.
The U.S. State Department has expressed its concerns about the legislation and the university's ability to continue operating in Hungary. Deputy Assistant Secretary for European and Eurasian Affairs Hoyt Yee will be in Budapest today to meet with government officials, in part to discuss Central European University. Yee is also expected to meet with authorities from the university.
Protesters filling Kossuth Square outside the parliament said they want President Janos Ader to veto the legislation. It was the largest anti-government protest in years. Ader, from Orban's governing Fidesz party, was re-elected by lawmakers for a five-year term in March.
"Don't sign it, Jani," the crowd chanted, using a Hungarian nickname for Ader's first name. Other chants included "A free country, a free university," "Orban get out," "Viktator!" and "Europe, Europe."
"There are moments in the career of every politician when they have a chance to prove that they are public servants, that they are not just foot soldiers of their party but statesmen," Central European University student Daniel Berg told the crowd. "The country where the government closes schools cannot succeed."
Orban's plans for what he calls an "illiberal state" -- he said in 2014 that the 2008 financial crisis showed that liberal democracies "can't remain globally competitive," and praised Russia and China as nations to emulate -- contrast with Soros' "open society" ideal.
Orban alleges that nongovernmental organizations supported by Soros, including the anti-corruption agency Transparency International and rights advocate Hungarian Helsinki Committee, are "foreign agents" working against Hungarian interests.
A law expected to be passed in May would force nongovernmental organizations getting more than $24,500 a year from abroad to register with authorities.
A Section on 04/10/2017