SVG
Commentary
World Affairs Journal

Independent, Liberal Universities Under Attack in Eastern Europe

Independent liberal arts universities in Eastern Europe are under attack. Simultaneously, though perhaps for different reasons, two of the region鈥檚 best and most independent post-graduate universities are under the serious threat of closure.

In Hungary, Prime Minister Viktor Orban鈥檚 long running feud with the Hungarian-born financier and billionaire George Soros has culminated in an attempt to shutter Central European University (CEU), the institute Soros founded in Budapest in 1991. Despite international outrage and large of Budapest, the government has moved ahead with a law that seems designed to close CEU.