Soros-Founded College to Stay in Hungary, Forcing Orban’s Hand
- CEU to also develop new campus in Vienna after Orban pressure
- Hungary leader risks expulsion from EPP group on CEU decision
Photographer: Attila Kisbenedek/AFP via Getty Images
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Central European University, the institution founded by investor and philanthropist George Soros, said it will resist pressure from Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s government and continue to operate in Budapest, even as it will develop a new campus in Vienna.
The decision by the CEU’s Board of Trustees, which includes Soros, forces Orban’s cabinet to decide whether to renew the school’s license by year’s end or risk expulsion from the European People’s Party, the biggest group in the European Parliament which has shielded the populist leader from criticism over the erosion of democracy.