President Anheier and Dean Algan urge President János Áder not to sign law that would shut down the university
The Hertie School in Berlin and Sciences Po in Paris have written a letter to the Hungarian President expressing their strong opposition to legislation that would effectively shut down the Central European University (CEU) in Budapest.
Helmut Anheier, President of the Hertie School and Yann Algan, Dean of the School of Public Affairs at the Sciences Po, urged Hungarian President Dr. János Áder not to sign the legislation, which the Hungarian Parliament passed on Wednesday.
"With faculty and students from around the world, and deep roots in Hungarian society and academic life, the university is a vital independent centre of knowledge and research in Central Europe and beyond," Anheier and Algan wrote. "As members of the academic community, we strongly urge you to consider our profound concerns and not to sign the legislation."
The new law would force the CEU, which has long been certified by the Hungarian Accreditation Committee, to open a campus in the New York state by February 2018, imposing a crippling financial burden.
"By requiring foreign universities in Hungary to have a campus in their home country, the government led by Prime Minister Viktor Orbán clearly aims to impair and disenfranchise CEU and limit freedoms essential for academic work," Anheier and Algan said in their letter.
The two universities join institutions across the world in opposing the legislation.
Download a copy of the full text of the letter below.