Image copyright Reuters Image caption Protesters have created a human chain around the Central European University

Supporters have gathered at a Budapest university after MPs passed a bill which could force it out of Hungary.

The 199-seat parliament head earlier voted 123 to 38 in favour of the legislation, which places tough restrictions on foreign universities.

The main target is believed to be the Central European University (CEU) and its founder, George Soros.

It is the latest battle declared by the right-wing Prime Minister of Hungary, Viktor Orban, against liberalism.

But within hours of the legislation being passed, staff, students and supporters had surrounded CEU waving blue signs saying "veto" to show their support for the university.

CEU, meanwhile, has vowed to fight the bill.

The English-speaking university, which is still partly-funded by Hungarian-born Mr Soros, is ranked among the top 200 universities in the world in eight disciplines.

But Zoltan Balog, a government minister, told MPs on Tuesday it went "against Hungary's interests to host experiments, financially supported and evading democratic 'rules of the game' in the background, which aim at undermining the lawfully elected government or leadership".

Image copyright EPA Image caption The demonstration began just hours after parliament passed a new bill which could force it from the country

Hungary's governing Fidesz party - officials from which have repeatedly referred to CEU as "the Soros university" - see it as a bastion of liberalism.

The prime minister is a known critic of liberal NGOs which are partially funded by Mr Soros, 86, with whom he has a strained relationship.

This bill will effectively force CEU from Hungary - where it occupies prime real estate in the centre - as it requires foreign universities to have a campus both in the capital and their home countries.

CEU only has a campus in Budapest.

It also bans universities outside the EU from awarding Hungarian diplomas without an agreement between national governments - in this case, the US.

Despite this, a CEU spokesman has vowed to "maintain the integrity and continuity of its academic programmes... whatever the circumstances", adding : "This fight is not over. We will contest the constitutionality of this legislation and seek all available legal remedies."

CEU Rector Michael Ignatieff has previously said the bill marks "the first time that a member of the European Union dared to legislate an attack on the academic freedom of a university".

The Central European University

Founded to "resuscitate and revive intellectual freedom" in parts of Europe that had endured the "horrific ideologies" of communism and fascism

Occupies a building that began as an aristocrat's palace before becoming state-owned offices for a planned socialist economy

Has 1,440 students - 335 from Hungary and the rest from 107 other countries

Presents itself as a champion of free speech, with links to universities in Russia, Kyrgyzstan, Georgia and Kazakhstan</s>The Hungarian Government is proposing legislative changes which will prevent Budapest’s Central European University from awarding degrees accredited in both the US and Hungary. These changes would endanger the academic freedom vital for CEU’s continued operation in Budapest, and would strike a blow against the values that enable all universities to flourish.

In twenty-five years, Central European University has established itself as a private international university with a global reputation for excellence in teaching and research in the social sciences and humanities. It attracts students from 117 countries and faculty from 40. CEU’s masters and doctoral programmes are accredited by the Regents of the State of New York. The University as a whole is accredited by the US Middle States Commission on Higher Education. CEU’s programmes are also certified by appropriate Hungarian authorities. The university has complied in full with all Hungarian laws.

In a very short time, CEU has acquired global recognition among its peer universities around the world. In international rankings, some of CEU’s departments are rated among the top 50 in the world. It is the most successful institution in securing European Research Council grants in Central and Eastern Europe. Several of its faculty, in fields as various as medieval studies and network and cognitive science, have won the most prestigious awards in their disciplines.

CEU’s achievements have made it a valued member of the international academic community. Its presence in Hungary has added to the reputation of Hungarian academic life on the international stage. I believe that the government’s proposed legislation to alter its statutes of operation in Hungary would compromise its academic freedom, would abrogate prior agreements with and assurances from the Hungarian Government, and would set a dangerous precedent by curtailing the indispensable condition of academic freedom and independence.

As Vice-Chancellor of Oxford University and a recently elected member of the Board of Trustees of the Central European University, I respectfully urge the Hungarian government to reconsider this proposed legislation. They should bear in mind the damage it would do not only to this admirable university but also to Hungary’s international academic reputation, and its long and proud tradition as a home for culture, the arts and intellectual achievement.</s>Washington, DC - The United States is concerned about legislation proposed by the Government of Hungary on March 28th that imposes new, targeted, and onerous regulatory requirements on foreign universities. If adopted, these changes would negatively affect or even lead to the closure of Central European University (CEU) in Budapest.

CEU is a premier academic institution accredited in the United States and Hungary, with staff and students from over 100 countries. It has strengthened Hungary’s influence and leadership in the region through its academic excellence and many contributions to independent, critical thinking.

We urge the Government of Hungary to avoid taking any legislative action that would compromise CEU’s operations or independence.</s>The Hungarian Parliament passed a law Tuesday that Central European University says could force it to cease operations in the country. CEU officials have described the law as a targeted attack against the university, which was founded in 1991 by the liberal financier and philanthropist George Soros and has American and Hungarian accreditation and dual legal identities as CEU (American) and KEE (Hungarian).

The law was first proposed last week and fast-tracked to passage despite widespread international support for CEU. The measure would, among other things, prevent KEE, the Hungarian legal entity, from offering American degree programs and would require CEU to offer programs in New York State, where it is chartered.

"This is an unprecedented attack from within the E.U. on an American institution," Leon Botstein, the chair of CEU's board and the president of New York's Bard College, said at a news conference live-streamed Tuesday. "It is not only an attack on academic freedom, but also an attack on a longstanding precedent of international cooperation on science and research."

CEU officials have pledged to contest the law and maintain the continuity of the university's academic programs no matter what happens.

"We're determined to stay in Budapest and to continue operations, but we are also determined to serve the students and faculty and staff, which is to say that whatever occurs, we are going to continue the work of the university and secure the employment and education of those students who are here now and those students who will come in the future," Botstein said.

CEU’s president and rector, Michael Ignatieff, described the legislation that was passed as “even worse than the draft that we saw last week” in that it moves up the deadline for compliance. The new law requires that a binding agreement be reached between the U.S. and Hungarian governments by Sept. 1 and by New York State and the Hungarian government by Jan. 1.

Ignatieff said the legislation "makes the absurd request, the constitutionally absurd request, that any future operation of CEU should proceed on the basis of an agreement with the federal government, the government of the United States. I don’t know why the Hungarian government seems unaware of the Constitution of the United States, but the Constitution of the United States makes it clear that only state authorities have jurisdiction in this matter. We have had an agreement with the state of New York signed by Republican Governor George Pataki in 2004, which has been the basis upon which we’ve had a very productive and law-abiding relationship ever since."

Ignatieff said the university would ask the president of Hungary, János Áder, “to exercise his constitutional responsibilities to review the legislation.”

“The basic law of Hungary provides for and guarantees the academic freedom of scientific and research establishments. Some form of words to that effect [are] in the constitution of Hungary in the basic law, and it’s on that basis, and on other bases as well, that we will be asking President Áder to exercise his constitutional responsibilities. And I hope that everybody will notice that in defending ourselves at CEU we are seeking to defend the academic freedom of all our Hungarian partner institutions,” Ignatieff said.

The university, which offers English-taught graduate degrees in the humanities, law, management, public policy and the social sciences and which counts the vice chancellor of the University of Oxford and the incoming chancellor of the University of California, Berkeley, among its board members, received an outpouring of support from international academic associations, universities, departments and individual academics since a draft of the legislation was introduced last week (a list of statements in support can be found here).

Thousands of people rallied in Budapest Sunday in support of the university, and thousands reportedly protested Tuesday after the legislation was passed. The U.S. Department of State has also lent its formal support, having issued a statement last week urging the government of Hungary "to avoid taking any legislative action that would compromise CEU’s operations or independence."

On Tuesday, after the legislation passed, the chargé d’affaires of the Embassy of the United States to Budapest, David Kostelancik, issued a statement expressing disappointment at “the accelerated passage of legislation targeting Central European University, despite the serious concerns raised by the United States, by hundreds of local and international organizations and institutions, and by thousands of Hungarians who value academic freedom and the many important contributions by Central European University to Hungary.”

The statement from the U.S. Embassy describes CEU as "an important component of the U.S.-Hungarian relationship for 26 years" and says the United States "will continue to advocate for its independence and unhindered operation in Hungary."

The law has widely been seen as part of a wider attack on civil society organizations and liberal values under the government of Prime Minister Victor Orbán, a proponent of what he has called "illiberal democracy." Writing in The Boston Globe, the institution's former president of seven years until last summer, John Shattuck, wrote that the "short answer" for why the government is attacking the university is "politics": "Elections will be held in Hungary in 2018, and Orbán’s self-proclaimed 'illiberal democracy' needs a 'liberal' bogeyman to be this year’s political target of its authoritarian nationalism," Shattuck wrote. "CEU was founded with a generous grant from George Soros. The Hungarian government, having previously focused its political attacks and crippling regulatory restrictions on fleeing refugees, independent courts and free media, is now aiming at Soros and the civil society organizations he has supported to advance democratic open societies."

In a statement, Hungary's Ministry of Human Capacities, which is responsible for education, accused CEU of "misleading the public" about the legislation in an attempt to keep its special "privileges."

"The subject of the legislative amendment adopted by Parliament today is not against the Central European University, and the CEU will be able to continue its operations as soon as there is an international agreement between the two countries which supports this in principle," the statement said.

"The Soros university has enjoyed privileges unavailable to any other institution of higher education in Hungary. Even though its students are only required to attend a single course, the university has been able to issue them with two degrees -- Hungarian and American. This may be good business for George Soros, but in the competition between universities it represents an unfair advantage. The legislative amendment brings this discriminative business practice to an end, closes a loophole and creates a level playing field for universities," the ministry's statement continues. (In a statement submitted to Parliament, CEU said, "contrary to what has been communicated in the press," students don't automatically receive two degrees for a single program of study.)

A separate statement from the Hungarian government quoted Minister of Human Capacities Zoltán Balog: "Not even George Soros’s organizations stand above Hungarian law."</s>A legal change in Hungary means that a university founded by George Soros to foster democratic thinking in this Central East European country will be shut down.

Hungary’s parliament on Tuesday voted 123–38 in favor of the measure, approving it the same day legislators were first given an opportunity to debate it. Under the change, foreign universities can only exist under a bilateral agreement between Hungary and the institution’s “home country,” where they are required to have a campus.

Many see the new law as targeting Central European University, the Budapest-based university that was founded by Soros in 1991 to train democratic thinkers as the country emerged from decades of communism. The accreditation of American institutions is in the hands of the states, not the federal government. (CEU has accreditation from the state of New York and Hungary.) It’s unlikely the U.S. federal government would hash out an agreement with Hungary to allow American universities to operate there, Michael Ignatieff, CEU’s president and rector, noted. (It is also somewhat economically and practically infeasible that a university that quite literally has “Central Europe” in its name would open a campus in, say, Poughkeepsie.)

Perhaps not coincidentally, the legal change comes as Hungarian organizations funded by Soros are also under threat of legislation that would make “foreign-funded NGOs” meet more stringent funding-registration requirements.

Reports about the measure last week were met with outcry. Thousands took to the streets of Budapest to protest the legislation over the weekend. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban responded on Friday by calling the university “a cheat” (the Hungarian government later said CEU had acted in accordance with Hungarian law). The parliament was undeterred. In fact, the protests likely just inspired them to push the vote up so that protesters could not build momentum, argued Milan Nic, senior fellow at the German Council of Foreign Relations and a CEU alumnus.

Ignatieff vowed to fight the law, saying that it is unconstitutional. Hungarian basic law, he said, has a clause that protects academic freedom. He noted institutions not only abroad but also in Hungary, such as the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, have spoken out for CEU, and have done so for this reason — that this is about not just CEU, but the freedom of higher education institutions in Hungary.

Ignatieff hopes Americans will respond — the Orban government, he argued, is making an example of an American institution, which can hardly sit well with Trump’s “America first” administration. But “America first” is part of what emboldened Orban, Nic said. He did this, because “he thinks the U.S. will just not care,” he said.

CEU will also try to call in the European leaders, who are likely already alarmed by the political tone in Hungary. The Orban government isn’t just shutting down CEU, it’s shifting broadly to a harder nationalist line ahead of next year’s elections. It is currently campaigning for a national consultation to “stop Brussels” (though not leave the EU). In a new Freedom House Nations in Transit report, Hungary received the worst ranking in the Central East European region.

But those leaders may be unlikely to do anything more than be concerned. A Hungarian is the EU commissioner for education. And what European leader, in trying to preserve unity between the remaining 27 EU countries in time of Brexit, is going to pick a fight over Hungary? “Orban sees a space to do this when there is a lot of distraction,” said Nic, who added, “It will be a huge problem for the EU and it can’t do much.”

The Hungarian government, for its part, does not admit that the law was in any way an attempt to target CEU. “Just as any other institutions in Hungary, CEU must abide by the law. Nobody stands above the law in Hungary.” a spokesperson for the country’s foreign ministry said in an email. “Any other interpretations are symptoms of political hysteria,” which the staffer blamed on opposition parties “having the support of self-styled non-governmental international networks funded by George Soros.”</s>BUDAPEST, April 4 (Reuters) - Hungary approved a new law on Tuesday that could force a university founded by financier George Soros out of the country despite protests against the plan in Budapest and condemnation abroad.

Prime Minister Viktor Orban, a critic of liberal civil organisations funded by Soros, said last week the Central European University had violated regulations in awarding diplomas, an allegation the college rejects.

The law, which the government says is designed to address the administrative shortcomings of foreign universities, marks the latest clampdown on independent institutions that has seen Orban allies increase their influence over the judiciary, the media and the central bank.

U.S. and European leaders have spoken out in defence of the university and of academic freedom in general.

But Orban's human affairs minister told parliament that institutions backed by Soros were trying to undermine the government.

"The organisations of George Soros operating in Hungary and around the world are just such pseudo-civilian agents, and we are committed to stamping out such activity," Zoltan Balog said.

CEU, founded in Budapest in 1991, has 1,400 students. It said it operated lawfully. The school will challenge the law's constitutionality and mount an international campaign to convince Orban's government to reverse course, CEU Rector Michael Ignatieff told a press conference.

Ignatieff spoke from Washington DC, where he is meeting lawmakers and government members, including Deputy Secretary of State Thomas Shannon.

"We will respectfully ask the president of Hungary to exercise his constitutional responsibility (regarding) the legislation," he said.

"In the fight to save CEU we are fighting for the academic freedom of all Hungarian institutions of higher learning."

Thousands of students, professors and supporters rallied in Budapest on Sunday demanding the government withdraw the draft legislation. Another protest is planned on Tuesday.

The new law sets several requirements that could force the CEU to leave Hungary.

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier urged the European Parliament on Tuesday to defend human rights, specifically citing CEU.

"Europe should not remain silent, if civil society, even science - we are seeing now at the Central European University in Budapest - is being stifled," Steinmeier said.

The Council of Europe, Europe's leading human rights organisation, said it was following developments.

Under the law, foreign universities must have campuses in Budapest and their home country. The CEU operates in Budapest but is the only international college with no overseas branch.

Foreign universities can henceforth only award degrees in Hungary if its government and, in CEU's case, the United States sign an accord on the matter within six months of the law taking effect.

The top U.S. diplomat in Hungary said Washington was "disappointed by the accelerated passage of legislation targeting Central European University."

"The United States will continue to advocate for its independence and unhindered operation in Hungary," chargé d'affaires David Kostelancik said.

"This (bill) has zero professional justification," Socialist lawmaker Istvan Hiller, a former education minister, told parliament.

More than 500 international academics including 17 Nobel Laureates have voiced their support, and the U.S. State Department urged Budapest "to avoid taking any legislative action that would compromise CEU's operations or independence." (Additional reporting by Joseph Nasr in Berlin; Editing by Stephen Powell and Hugh Lawson)</s>Lawmakers from Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban's Fidesz party on Tuesday approved a draft education bill that critics say targets a university founded by billionaire philanthropist George Soros.

The bill modifies rules regulating the 28 foreign universities in Hungary. Central European University said parts of the bill directly target it, and could force it to close.

Orban, a former Soros scholarship recipient, has been increasingly critical of the Hungarian-born philanthropist, accusing him of wanting to influence Hungarian politics.

He said last week that CEU was "cheating" because it did not have a campus in its country of origin and because it issued diplomas recognized both in Hungary and the United States, giving it an undue advantage over local institutions. The CEU is accredited in New York state but does not have a U.S. campus.

The U.S. State Department as well as hundreds of academics and universities have expressed support for CEU, founded in 1991. It currently enrolls 1,400 students from 108 countries.

Zoltan Balog, whose ministry oversees education, appeared to link CEU to the non-governmental organizations supported by Soros in Hungary. Speaking at the start of the debate in parliament, he described them as "faux-civic, agent organizations" seeking to hinder the democratically-elected Hungarian government.

"We are committed to preventing this activity with every legal means," Balog said.

Leaders at CEU have vowed to keep the university open.

"If the bill passes, it would mark the first time that a member of the European Union dared to legislate an attack on the academic freedom of a university," CEU rector Michael Ignatieff said in an opinion article in The New York Times on Sunday. "It would also mark the first time that an American ally, a member of NATO, openly attacked an American institution on its soil."

Ignatieff added that the bill aimed to "send a chill through Hungarian higher education and eliminate one of the few remaining institutions in Hungary that can stand up to the government."

The draft bill requires the governments of the U.S. and Hungary to agree on new terms for the university's operations within the next few months. If a deal doesn't materialize, CEU would be banned from enrolling new students after Jan. 1, 2018 and would have to conclude its educational activities by 2021.

Balog said Hungary's government was ready to negotiate with the U.S. government on an agreement about the university.</s>Ignoring protest from around the world, the Hungarian government has fast-tracked legislation to tighten rules governing foreign universities operating in the country. The law could force the closure of the Central European University (CEU).

The new law requires foreign universities to gain agreement for their foreign operations from their home government. But US law clearly gives authority for higher education to the states.

The Hungarian law also requires institutions to have a permanent educational program in their country of origin as well as in Hungary. To comply with this, CEU would have to create a new campus in the United States in order to stay open in Budapest.

The university plans to challenge the constitutionality of the legislation, arguing that it’s a violation of Hungarian laws protecting the “freedom of scientific research”.

Founded in Budapest after the unshackling of Central Europe from the USSR, the university was launched in 1991 on the principles of “open society”, which foster tolerance and transparent political institutions.

It’s a private American university that delivers Western-style, English-language education. Its humanities and social sciences degrees have been accredited in Hungary and the United States. University faculty are often strong supporters of civil liberties, freedom of speech and other liberal democratic values.

CEU is funded by Hungarian-American hedge-fund entrepreneur and philanthropist George Soros. For decades, Soros has been a lightning rod for conservative critics in Europe as well as the US for supporting liberal causes.

Russian President Vladimir Putin accused Soros of orchestrating the “colour revolutions” in Georgia and the Ukraine over the last decade. And, in the past few years, the Hungarian government has denounced NGOs funded by Soros for “illegitimately” influencing political life.

They have been joined by others in Eastern and Central Europe since the election of US President Donald Trump. A former Polish prime minister, Jarosław Kaczyński, considers groups backed by Soros as seeking “societies without identities”, while Nikola Gruevski, Macedonia’s former prime minister, has called for a “de-Sorosization” of society.

Elected in 2010, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and his political party, Fidesz, have since sought to centralise control in their country. They have removed heads of independent institutions, including the courts, and tightened control over the media.

Such controls are characteristic of “state capture”, which maximises the wealth and power of particular groups rather than serving the public interest. It’s sometimes called “crony capitalism”.

In Hungary, the political leadership is not bribed, nor is theft committed. Through legal processes, local companies, lands, profitable enterprises and European funds are directed to pro-Orbán allies and friends.

After his re-election in 2014, Orbán said he wanted to abandon liberal democracy in favour of an “illiberal state”, along the lines of Russia and Turkey. He claimed more centralised control was needed to escape from “debt slavery” to multinational firms and to protect Hungarians from becoming a “colony” of the European Union.

His populist tactics include denigrating the Roma, refugees, the homeless and other minorities.

Civil society organisations receiving money from abroad have been targeted with draft legislation to be more transparent about this funding. Orbán’s government claims such organisations are agents of foreign powers.

In January 2017, a Fidesz party deputy singled out human rights organisations – the Helsinki Committee, the Hungarian Civil Liberties Union TASZ and Transparency International – to be “swept out” of the country. These organisations receive funding support from the Open Society Foundation, which is funded by George Soros.

Critics of the government have highlighted three separate goals Fidesz is pursuing. It is disrupting the work of key NGOs through bureaucratic overload and intimidation; de-legitimising watchdogs and independent critics in the eyes of the public; and reinforcing the commitment and cohesion of Fidesz’s core supporters in the electorate.

De-legitimising critics of government has been one of the standard strategies in Hungary’s “war of ideas” over democracy and independent institutions since Orbán’s 2010 election.

He invokes Hungary’s “Christian” culture and conservative values and presents democratic “chaos” as the opposite of strong-fisted rule that guarantees harmony and order. This fight over ideas can turn universities into battlefields, as appears to have happened with the avowedly liberal CEU.

The university is now firmly on the frontline of this war of ideas. And whether it becomes a casualty depends on continuing international support – from both the scholarly community and other governments.

When the legislation was announced last week, CEU called upon the scholarly community for support. But while it received an overwhelming response, that was ultimately inadequate to sway the Hungarian government.

The university also requires political support. Diplomatic pressure from American and EU governments is needed to shield it and to bolster the principles of academic freedom in Europe. This support is overdue according to Cas Mudde, a leading analyst of right-wing parties in Europe.

The rally in Budapest of thousands of protesters was a show of local support for CEU. But this too could fade over time.

In the march to the 2018 Hungarian parliamentary election, Orbán and Fidesz are likely to scale up their populist strategies. And if the legal challenge to the new law isn’t settled by election time, it could undermine support for the university from domestic allies committed to the values of the open society and liberal democracy.</s>Hungary approved a new law in a fast-track procedure on Tuesday that could force a university founded by financier George Soros out of the country despite a protest against the plan in Budapest and condemnation abroad.

Prime Minister Viktor Orban, a staunch critic of liberal civil organisations funded by Soros, said on Friday the Central European University had violated regulations in awarding its diplomas, an allegation the college firmly rejected.

The law, which the government says is designed to address administrative shortcomings of foreign universities, marks the next chapter of a clampdown on independent institutions, which has seen Orban allies boost their influence over the judiciary, the media and the central bank.

Lawmakers passed the legislation with 123 votes in favour and 38 against, while 38 deputies did not vote. Voting was briefly interrupted by the sound of a siren blaring from a megaphone held up by an independent lawmaker in protest.

Addressing parliament before the vote, Orban’s human affairs minister said institutions backed by Soros were trying to undermine Hungary’s government by “averting democratic rules”.

“The organisations of George Soros operating in Hungary and around the world are just such pseudo-civilian agents and we are committed to stamping out such activity with all available legal means,” Zoltan Balog said.

The CEU, which was founded in Budapest in 1991 following the collapse of communism and has 1,400 students, said it operated lawfully and was accredited to award Hungarian and US degrees.

Thousands of students, professors and supporters rallied in Budapest on Sunday demanding the government withdraw the draft legislation. Another protest is planned near the CEU on Tuesday.

Orban’s government, which faces an election in just over a year, submitted the bill last week to regulate foreign universities, setting several new requirements, which could force the CEU to leave Hungary.

The Council of Europe, Europe’s leading human rights organisation, said it was closely following the developments.

“Academic freedom, right to education are key,” spokesman Daniel Holtgen said in a tweet.

Under the law, foreign universities must have a campus in Budapest and in their home country. The CEU, which only operates in the capital, is the only international college with no arm elsewhere.

A passage in the law stipulates that foreign universities could award degrees in Hungary only if the governments of Hungary, and in CEU’s case, the United States, sign an accord on the matter within six months of the law taking effect.

Socialist lawmaker Istvan Hiller, a former education minister, said the legislation was tailor-made to hit the CEU, adding it was impossible to reach such an agreement so quickly.

“This (bill) has zero professional justification,” he told parliament.

More than 500 leading international academics, including 17 Nobel Laureates have come out in support of the CEU. The US State Department has urged Budapest “to avoid taking any legislative action that would compromise CEU’s operations or independence.”

Soros’s Open Society Foundations, which support democracy, have been active in Hungary for three decades and Soros financed foreign scholarships for Hungarian politicians, including Orban, when communism collapsed.</s>BUDAPEST, April 4 (Reuters) - Hungary fast-tracked a new law through parliament on Tuesday that could force Budapest-based Central European University, founded by financier George Soros, out of the country.

Lawmakers passed the legislation with 123 votes in favour and 38 against, while 38 deputies did not vote. Voting was briefly interrupted by the sound of a siren blaring from a megaphone held up by an independent lawmaker in protest at the plan, which has been condemned in Hungary and overseas as an attack on academic freedom. (Reporting by Gergely Szakacs and Marton Dunai; Editing by Catherine Evans)
The National Assembly of Hungary passes a bill that undermines the functioning of the Central European University (CEU). Academics and academic institutions worldwide have expressed support for CEU.