Students rally in Budapest to keep Soros-founded school
BUDAPEST (Reuters) - Thousands joined a student rally in Budapest on Saturday calling for safeguards for academic freedom and changes in government policies which have prompted a university founded by U.S.
BUDAPEST (Reuters) - Thousands joined a student rally in Budapest on Saturday calling for safeguards for academic freedom and changes in government policies which have prompted a university founded by U.S. billionaire George Soros to plan to leave Hungary.
The Central European University (CEU) has announced it will move to Vienna unless Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban's government agrees by December 1 to ensure the legal framework for its continued operation in Hungary.
CEU has offered U.S.-accredited degree programmes to thousands of students from ex-communist eastern Europe for almost three decades.
Participants in the demonstration held outside the historic buildings of Corvinus University on the bank of the Danube river, said the academic climate symbolised by the CEU, one which celebrates free thought and open debate, needed to be defended.
"CEU represents free education and diversity... I am fed up with what is going on here," said Maria Palmai, 63, a retired bank official.
More than 3,500 CEU alumni are currently working and teaching in Hungary.
Students of other universities including ELTE and Corvinus also attended the rally.
"If we do not stand up for CEU, the next time they will come for ELTE. Nobody will stand up for ELTE, and if they go for Corvinus, nobody will stand up stand up for Corvinus, " said Eyad, 30, a Jordanian who studies film making at ELTE.
CEU's plan to move U.S. accredited programmes, the bulk of its courses, to Vienna follows a lengthy battle with Orban's government, including legal changes widely seen as targeting CEU.
The conservative nationalist government has accused the Hungarian-born Soros of plotting to destroy European civilisation by flooding the continent with immigrants. Soros says his support for refugees is part of a humanitarian mission.
The university looks set to move as the government has ruled out any concessions to CEU.
(Reporting by Sandor Peto; editing by Jason Neely)
This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
also read
France, Germany to agree to NATO role against Islamic State - sources | Reuters
By Robin Emmott and John Irish | BRUSSELS/PARIS BRUSSELS/PARIS France and Germany will agree to a U.S. plan for NATO to take a bigger role in the fight against Islamic militants at a meeting with President Donald Trump on Thursday, but insist the move is purely symbolic, four senior European diplomats said.The decision to allow the North Atlantic Treaty Organization to join the coalition against Islamic State in Syria and Iraq follows weeks of pressure on the two allies, who are wary of NATO confronting Russia in Syria and of alienating Arab countries who see NATO as pushing a pro-Western agenda."NATO as an institution will join the coalition," said one senior diplomat involved in the discussions. "The question is whether this just a symbolic gesture to the United States
China's Xi says navy should become world class | Reuters
BEIJING Chinese President Xi Jinping on Wednesday called for greater efforts to make the country's navy a world class one, strong in operations on, below and above the surface, as it steps up its ability to project power far from its shores.China's navy has taken an increasingly prominent role in recent months, with a rising star admiral taking command, its first aircraft carrier sailing around self-ruled Taiwan and a new aircraft carrier launched last month.With President Donald Trump promising a US shipbuilding spree and unnerving Beijing with his unpredictable approach on hot button issues including Taiwan and the South and East China Seas, China is pushing to narrow the gap with the U.S. Navy.Inspecting navy headquarters, Xi said the navy should "aim for the top ranks in the world", the Defence Ministry said in a statement about his visit."Building a strong and modern navy is an important mark of a top ranking global military," the ministry paraphrased Xi as saying.