Message in support of Central European University

For the last 25 years, Central European University has not only been one of the most innovative centres of higher learning in our region, but it has also been an institution that has helped re-establish a truly scholarly study of social sciences and humanities in Central Europe. It is, therefore, with a serious concern that I follow the recent developments regarding the CEU. The amendments to the National Higher Education Law which were proposed last week are discriminatory and their purpose is unambiguously clear: to undermine the University´s independence and, consequently, cause its closure. As such attacks on academic freedoms are unacceptable, I call on the Government of Hungary to reconsider its proposal and ensure that free intellectual exchange and academic research, of which the CEU is a paragon, may continue unencumbered.

Petr Kratochvíl
Director of the Institute of International Relations