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CEU SIGNALS MOVE TO VIENNA

The Central European University (CEU) has said that unless the university can emerge from its current legal limbo in Hungary by December 1, incoming students will study at the CEU’s new campus in Vienna.

Michael Ignatieff, the CEU’s president and rector, told a news conference in Budapest that the decision by the institution’s board of trustees will come into effect on December 1, though, he added, hopefully a solution to the stand-off was still possible to ensure that courses continue in Hungary. But if a solution is not found, the CEU will move to Vienna “given we cannot continue to operate legally in Budapest.” Ignatieff added that the CEU had fulfilled the Hungarian government’s conditions, but the government did not want to sign the related international convention.
In response to the CEU press conference, government spokesman Zoltán Kovács branded Ignatieff’s statement as “a political bluff” on the part of US billionaire George Soros, the CEU’s founder and main benefactor. He said the CEU “will continue to operate in Hungary today, and, in our opinion, in the future too.” “The university very well knows what the Hungarian regulations are, but instead of actually complying with them, their response is political bluster,” the spokesman said.