A Hungarian plan to regulate foreign-based universities to a degree that might shutter an institution founded by liberal financier George Soros has provoked pushback from the State Department.
“The United States is concerned about legislation proposed by the Government of Hungary on March 28 that imposes new, targeted, and onerous regulatory requirements on foreign universities,” acting State Department spokesman Mark Toner said Friday. If adopted, these changes would negatively affect or even lead to the closure of Central European University (CEU) in Budapest.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has portrayed the regulation of CEU as a theater for establishing his country’s sovereignty against a progressive billionaire. It’s just one example of central European nationalists targeting Soros. In other cases, Soros-backed groups have been accused of using State Department money to push left-wing causes, a charge that has gained traction on Capitol Hill.
“CEU is a premier academic institution accredited in the United States and Hungary, with staff and students from over 100 countries,” Toner said. “It has strengthened Hungary’s influence and leadership in the region through its academic excellence and many contributions to independent, critical thinking.”
The fight in Hungary comes days after Senate conservatives accused the Obama-era State Department of funneling grant money to Soros-backed groups in Macedonia. “This sort of political favoritism from our missions around the world is unacceptable and endangers our bilateral relationships,” Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, said in a statement accompanying a March letter to Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.
The State Department’s defense of CEU might appear to play into allegations that Soros’ groups are levers for American influence. The fact that it comes from Tillerson’s acting spokesman, however, is inconvenient for the charges that left-wing ideology dominates the State Department grants or the nonprofits themselves.
“We urge the Government of Hungary to avoid taking any legislative action that would compromise CEU’s operations or independence,” Toner said.
