Viktor Orban Still
Defiant on ‘Soros University Law’ After EU Summit
by Breitbart London29 Apr 2017
BUDAPEST, Hungary
(AP) – The Hungarian government remained defiant Saturday over the possible
closure of Budapest-based Central European University, founded by billionaire George Soros.
The issue was on the agenda during Prime Minister Viktor
Orban’s meeting in Brussels with leaders of the European People’s
Party, of which his Fidesz party is a member.
The EPP was unusually direct in its criticism of Orban
over CEU, a government campaign called “Let’s stop Brussels” and a draft bill
targeting civic groups which receive foreign funding.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban speaks during a
plenary session at the European Parliament in Brussels. (AP
Photo/Virginia Mayo, file)
EPP president Joseph Daul said that in light of
objections by the European Commission and after consultations with Hungarian
civic groups and the academic community “we have come to the conclusion that
dialogue alone is not enough.”
The EPP “will not accept that any basic freedoms are
restricted or rule of law is disregarded,” Daul said in a statement. “The EPP
wants CEU to remain open, deadlines suspended and dialogue with the U.S. to
begin.”
Both Daul and EPP spokesman Siegfried Muresan posted
messages on Twitter saying Orban said Hungary would comply with the commission’s
requests and EU laws.
While Orban said he was ready for cooperation with the
commission, the EU executive, he indicated he was unwilling to eliminate new
amendments to the law on higher education which could force CEU to stop
operating as it currently does.
CEU, in Budapest since 1993, is accredited in Hungary and
New York state, its graduate degrees are recognized both in Hungary and the
U.S., but it has no U.S. campus. Orban says that issuing a U.S. degree without
having a U.S. campus gives CEU an unfair advantage over other domestic
universities.
“The existence of higher education institutions without
actual activities operating as offshore mailboxes will not be permitted by
Hungarian legislation in the future, either,” Orban’s press office said, adding
that the government does not want to close the university and seeks to settle
the legal dispute over the matter with the EU.
The government says it has no objections to the
university issuing only Hungarian diplomas, but CEU says that would practically
destroy its mission and its appeal to foreign students. CEU enrolls 1,440
students from 108 countries, including over 300 from Hungary.
EU commission President Jean-Claude
Juncker, left, welcomes George Soros, Founder and Chairman of the
Open Society Foundations, prior to a meeting at EU headquarters in Brussels on
Thursday, April 27, 2017. Soros was in Brussels to discuss the situation in
Hungary, including legislative measures that could force the closure of the
Central European University in Budapest. (Olivier Hoslet, Pool Photo via AP)
If it fails to comply with the new conditions, CEU would
be prevented from enrolling new students after the end of the year.
CEU thanked EPP for its “unequivocal statement of support
for our academic freedom.”
“We are grateful for the EPP’s call to suspend the
deadlines and start negotiations,” said CEU Rector Michael Ignatieff. “We have
called for negotiations from the beginning and we want them to reach a
successful conclusion so that we can get back to work.”
Orban, who briefly studied at Oxford University thanks to a Soros scholarship in 1989, says he
seeks to transform Hungary into an “illiberal state” modelled on countries like
Turkey and Russia. He sees an ideological foe in Soros and his “open society”
ideal and blames the Hungarian-born American for supporting migration through
his backing of non-governmental groups like the Hungarian Helsinki Foundation
and the Hungarian Civil Liberties Union, which advocate for asylum-seekers.
The government says a draft bill on NGOs receiving more
than about $25,000 a year only seeks to increase “transparency.” NGOs, however,
see the legislation scheduled to be passed in May as an attempt at intimidation
and stigmatization.
Daul said that “NGOs are an integral part of any healthy
democracy … and they must be respected.”
Still, Daul’s harshest words were for Orban’s anti-EU
campaign, which claims bureaucrats in Brussels want Hungary to raise taxes and
energy prices and take in illegal migrants.
“The EPP has also made it clear to our Hungarian partners
that the blatant anti-EU rhetoric of the ‘Let’s stop Brussels’ consultation is
unacceptable,” Daul said. “The constant attacks on Europe, which Fidesz has
launched for years, have reached a level we cannot tolerate.”
George Soros, Founder and Chairman of the Open Society
Foundation, waits for the start of a meeting at EU headquarters in Brussels on
Thursday, April 27, 2017. (Olivier Hoslet, Pool Photo via AP)
Brussels
Islamic
State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) claimed
responsibility for the 2016 bombings of
Brussels airport and metro.
Note: Bashar al-Assad
permitted the rise of the Islamic State
of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) in
Syria, is the president of Syria,
and a supporter of the hacking group Syrian
Electronic Army.
Syrian
Electronic Army reportedly hacked the Human
Rights Watch.
Open
Society Foundations was a funder for the Human Rights Watch, and the American Constitution Society.
George
Soros is the founder & chairman for the Open Society Foundations, and was the chairman for the Foundation
to Promote Open Society.
Foundation
to Promote Open Society was
a funder for the Human Rights Watch,
the People for the American Way, the
Media Matters for America, the Center for International Policy, and the
Sundance Institute.
Barbra
Streisand Foundation was a funder for the Human Rights Watch, the Center
for International Policy, and the American
Constitution Society.
Barbra Streisand
is the founder of the Barbra Streisand
Foundation, and was a trustee at the Los
Angeles County Museum of Art.
Colleen Bell was a
trustee at the Los Angeles County Museum
of Art, and a U.S. ambassador for Hungary.
Margery Tabankin
is the treasurer for the Barbra
Streisand Foundation, and a director at the People for the American Way.
James C. Hormel
is a director at the People for the
American Way, was a donor for the Media
Matters for America, and a U.S. ambassador for Luxembourg.
Jean-Claude
Juncker was the prime minister, finance minister, treasury minister for Luxembourg, and is the president for
the European Commission (EC).
Crispin Tickell
was the chef de cabinet to the
president for the European Commission
(EC), the British permanent representative for the United Nations (UN), and is a director of the policy foresight
program for Oxford University.
Bob Rae was a Rhodes
scholar at Oxford University, and a college
friend of Michael G. Ignatieff.
Michael G.
Ignatieff is a college friend of Bob
Rae, and the interim leader for the Liberal
Party of Canada.
European Union
(EU) is the executive body for the European Commission (EC).
Jean De Ruyt was
the European Union (EU) representative for Belgium, a Belgian
ambassador for the United Nations (UN),
and is a senior public policy adviser for Covington
& Burling LLP.
Daniel L. Spiegel
was a U.S. representative to the European office for the United Nations (UN), and is a senior of counsel for Covington & Burling LLP.
European
Parliament is elected by the European
Union (EU).
Wim van Velzen
was a member of the European Parliament,
and a senior European policy adviser for Covington
& Burling LLP.
Eric H. Holder Jr.
is a partner at Covington & Burling
LLP, a board member for the American
Constitution Society, and an attorney general at the U.S. Department of Justice for the Barack Obama administration.
Goodwin Liu was a
director at the American Constitution
Society, and a Rhodes scholar at Oxford
University.
Faith Elizabeth
Gay is a board of adviser’s member for the American Constitution Society, and was an attorney at Sidley Austin LLP.
Michelle Obama
was a lawyer at Sidley Austin LLP.
Barack Obama was an
intern at Sidley Austin LLP.
Thomas C.
DeFilipps was a partner at Sidley Austin LLP, and is a partner at Covington & Burling LLP.
Stuart E. Eizenstat
is a senior counsel for Covington & Burling LLP, and was the U.S. ambassador for the European Union (EU).
European Union
(EU) is the executive body for the European Commission (EC).
Jean-Claude
Juncker is the president for the European
Commission (EC), and was the prime minister, finance minister, treasury
minister for Luxembourg.
James C. Hormel
was a U.S. ambassador for Luxembourg,
a donor for the Media Matters for
America, and is a director at the People
for the American Way.
Margery Tabankin
is a director at the People for the
American Way, and the treasurer for the Barbra Streisand Foundation.
Barbra
Streisand Foundation was a funder for the Human Rights Watch, the Center
for International Policy, and the American
Constitution Society.
Syrian
Electronic Army reportedly hacked the Human
Rights Watch.
Bashar al-Assad
is a supporter of the hacking group Syrian
Electronic Army, the president of Syria,
and permitted the rise of the Islamic
State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) in
Syria.
Islamic
State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) claimed
responsibility for the 2016 bombings of
Brussels airport and metro.
Norman
Lear is a director at the People for the American Way, the president of the Lear Family Foundation, and married to Lyn Davis Lear.
Lear
Family Foundation was a funder for the People
for the American Way, and a donor for the Movement Resource Group.
Movement
Resource Group was a funder for the Occupy
Movement.
Occupy Wall
Street was the initial protest for the Occupy
Movement.
Lyn Davis Lear
is a director at the Lear Family
Foundation, married to Norman Lear,
a trustee at the Sundance Institute,
and a trustee at the Los Angeles County
Museum of Art.
Steven E. Tisch
was a trustee at
the Sundance Institute, and is a
trustee at the Los Angeles County Museum
of Art.
Walter L. Weisman
is the chairman for the Sundance
Institute, and a life trustee at the Los
Angeles County Museum of Art.
Colleen Bell was a
trustee at the Los Angeles County Museum
of Art, and a U.S. ambassador for Hungary.
Barbra Streisand
was a trustee at the Los Angeles County
Museum of Art, and is the founder of the Barbra Streisand Foundation.
Barbra
Streisand Foundation was a funder for the Human Rights Watch, the Center
for International Policy, and the American
Constitution Society.
Syrian
Electronic Army reportedly hacked the Human
Rights Watch.
Bashar al-Assad
is a supporter of the hacking group Syrian
Electronic Army, the president of Syria,
and permitted the rise of the Islamic
State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) in
Syria.
Islamic
State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) claimed
responsibility for the 2016 bombings of
Brussels airport and metro.
Syrian
Electronic Army reportedly hacked the Human
Rights Watch.
Patricia E.
Mitchell was a director at the Human
Rights Watch, and is the vice chair for the Sundance Institute.
Steven E. Tisch
was a trustee at the Sundance Institute,
and is a trustee at the Los Angeles
County Museum of Art.
Walter L. Weisman
is the chairman for the Sundance
Institute, and a life trustee at the Los
Angeles County Museum of Art.
Lyn Davis Lear
is a trustee at the Sundance Institute,
a trustee at the Los Angeles County
Museum of Art, and a director at the Lear
Family Foundation, and married to Norman
Lear.
Colleen Bell was a
trustee at the Los Angeles County Museum
of Art, and a U.S. ambassador for Hungary.
Barbra Streisand
was a trustee at the Los Angeles County
Museum of Art, and is the founder of the Barbra Streisand Foundation.
Barbra
Streisand Foundation was a funder for the Human Rights Watch, the Center
for International Policy, and the American
Constitution Society.
Syrian
Electronic Army reportedly hacked the Human
Rights Watch.
Bashar al-Assad
is a supporter of the hacking group Syrian
Electronic Army, the president of Syria,
and permitted the rise of the Islamic
State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) in
Syria.
Islamic
State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) claimed
responsibility for the 2016 bombings of
Brussels airport and metro.
