EU governments ignoring CEU’s plight, says rector

European governments, including the UK’s, have remained mostly silent while the Central European University is being hounded out of Hungary, the rector of the Budapest-based institution has said.

Michael Ignatieff said that he believes this lack of action is due to the desire of European governments to protect their bilateral relationships with Hungary.

The Central European University is facing ejection from Hungary after a 2017 government bill introduced strict controls on international academic institutions in the country. Ignatieff, who was speaking via video link at the University of Buckingham’s Festival of Higher Education on 27 June, said there had been a “flood tide” of support from British academics and universities after the news broke in 2017.