Originally published at: http://boingboing.net/2017/03/30/viktor-orbans-enemies-list.html
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Hungary's ultra-right government wants to shut down its storied, amazing Central European University
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Well, this sucks.
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Dark days indeed. Looks like the regressive, knuckle dragging, mouth breathing fools who want to drag us back to the Stone Ages are winning…
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Prime Minister Viktor Orban = tRump wannabe
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“…even though the prime minister received a scholarship from the Soros foundation that allowed him to study briefly at Oxford.”
What a dick.
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I beg to differ. Orban is an international trend-setter in right-wing authoritarian oppression and anti-intellectual douchebaggery. The American president* and his henchman will have to put in at least a few more years’ work before they can try to shut down universities run by those eeevil rootless cosmopolitan librul elitists spreading their alien ideas and threatening our youth’s precious bodily fluids.
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…and jerbs!
I was recently in Budapest and it’s funny how you’d never know that the country is being run by a bunch of ultra-right nationalists. The city is beautiful. Although there are reminders around of another evil time full of ultra-right assholes.
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Does anyone know how?
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Evidently having a Canadian rector doesn’t help. (Mind you, Ignatieff used to lead the Liberal Party here, which probably makes him anathema in the same way as Soros.)
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CEU grad here, and current Budapest resident.
Yes, PM Orbán sux. Nothing new, really. What is new is the attacks on foreign NGOs that are critical of the government. Actually that’s not new for this bunch either, but it has been revived again since Trump came to power. Trying to shut down CEU is connected with that effort, since like the NGOs it is an institution that operates freely and can criticize the government and therefore operates outside of the government’s control, which is what they can’t tolerate.
Tailoring a law to fit a particular company or institution (in this case CEU) is nothing new either. The government did it a few years ago by drafting a law designed to bankrupt a foreign-owned TV station, but the station fought back by airing anti-government sentiments (the government backed down by rescinding the law). However, most companies are not media and can not do this.
But Trump’s election has definitely had an impact on the effort to silence independent voices here, no question. The only question is how bad will it eventually get.
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I’m a bit confused by the text here: the issue is that CEU is funded by Soros, and who is American, and therefore CEU needs a US campus?
I could see it not being too hard to work around the law, just work with some community college or other small place to make it “CEU affiliated” or such. Still a bullshit requirement, but not something likely to stop them in their tracks.
Was a fellow at the center for media data and society at CEU last year. You know you’re doing something right when the fascists are this scared of you. Never been more proud to be affiliated with this brave group of scholars.
Please write a letter of support if you can: https://www.ceu.edu/istandwithceu
You can also call your Congresspeople. CEU is a dual resident university with accreditation in the US and HU, incorporated originally in New York, so calls to NY officials are especially welcome.
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