On March 28th 2017 the Hungarian ruling party, Fidesz, tabled amendments to existing higher education laws. These laws address irregularities in existing legislation, but in reality they are an attempt to eject one institution - Central European University - from the country. On Sunday, April 2nd 2017, 10,000 people protested in the streets of Budapest. On Monday, April 3rd, the Government refined the bill, making it more punitive, and announced that they would fast-track the legislation through Parliament. The morning of April 4th it was voted on and passed. It is impossible for CEU to comply with the new legislation. Like many other American universities (see Wikipedia ), CEU has one physical location, but two identities: it is an American and a Hungarian institution. The new legislation states, in effect, that to continue its dual identity, CEU must also conduct its activities in the US, and that the dual identity must be ratified by a *federal* agreement betwee...
We are protesting AGAINST the attack of the Hungarian government on academic freedom and against the new law on higher education which makes it impossible for the Central European University (CEU) to continue functioning in Budapest, Hungary. We are going to demonstrate for freedom of education in general, not only in Hungary or the EU! See you on Friday, April 7, 2017 at 5pm in Placa Universitat, in front of the Universitat de Barcelona (the oldest university building in Catalunya).