
Image: European Union
Universities affected by sanctions can continue to apply for new funds while awaiting legislative changes
The Hungarian government has downplayed the effects of the EU’s decision to freeze new funding for 21 of the country’s universities, saying it should not affect involvement in the bloc’s Horizon Europe research and innovation programme or Erasmus+ academic mobility programme.
In December, the Council of EU member state governments agreed to prevent 21 Hungarian universities operated as ‘public interest trusts’—whose governing bodies contain members close to Hungary’s right-wing prime minister Viktor Orbán and his political party Fidesz—from getting new EU funds, to protect the EU budget from breaches of the rule of law in the country.