Wednesday

29th Nov 2023

MEPs hear clash over occupied Hungarian drama school

  • Student leader Hanna Milovits said students are maintaining the occupation while simultaneously attending classes - while the new chancellor has shut down internet access and closed schoolrooms (Photo: European Parliament)

Representatives from Hungary's top theatre and film school laid bare their conflict with Viktor Orban's government over academic freedoms in the European parliament's culture and education committee on Tuesday (27 October).

MEPs were given a first-hand account of the latest battle between an independent institution and the Hungarian government.

Read and decide

Join EUobserver today

Become an expert on Europe

Get instant access to all articles — and 20 years of archives. 14-day free trial.

... or subscribe as a group

The clash drew over 10,000 people to the streets in Budapest last Friday in support of the Hungarian University of Theatre and Film Arts (SZFE) and in protest against what protestors see as the government's attempts to undermine academic freedom.

Legislation passed earlier in the summer by the ruling Fidesz party transferred the ownership of the university to a private foundation.

The new board of trustees has been appointed by the government for life, and since assumed control of practically all management functions while disempowering the university's elected senate.

In response, the senate and the majority of the faculty resigned, and students occupied the school's buildings.

Innovation and technology minister Laszlo Gyorgy argued on Tuesday that the disagreements are purely professional, and said that while transfers of authority at other universities went smoothly, only the theatre school is resisting.

Gyorgy also argued that the new model will increase the quality of education, and actually grants more autonomy to the university than state-ownership provides.

Critics, however, see the reforms as attempts to limit the schools' autonomy and to bring them ideologically closer to the government.

Laszlo Upor, the former deputy rector of SZFE called the transition "forced" and told MEPs that the new system is "private with a twist". He added that the university still lives on public money "but without public control, without checks and balances".

Upor said the concerns and requests of the academic leadership and the alternatives suggested over months had been ignored by the ministry.

Hanna Milovits, vice-president of the student body, said the university and student leadership only learned about the new board members from the press.

She said students are maintaining the blockade and simultaneously attending classes - while the new chancellor has shut down internet access and closed schoolrooms, in an attempt to end the occupation.

Milovits added that students are ready to negotiate with the ministry "if and when" their rights are restored, and are treated as equal partners.

Meanwhile, Attila Vidnyanszky, a renowned theatre director and the new chair of the board, said changes had been necessary, and insisted the board are ready to negotiate.

Vidnyanszky, however, called Friday's protest a leftwing political campaign event, accused students of being indoctrinated from "outside" and said they were pushed to occupy the university - an accusation which Milovits rejected.

Orban's Fidesz party had already been scolded by the EU's top court over legal amendments that forced the Central European University out of the country.

Celebrity support

The dispute over control of the film and theatre school has generated global support with dozens of internationally recognised artists - including actresses Cate Blanchett and Helen Mirren and author Salman Rushdie - supporting the school and its autonomy.

Sabine Verheyen, an MEP from the German Christian Democratic Union party, who chairs the committee, said freedom of art and expression is a fundamental part of EU values. But there is little the EU can do as this is mostly a member-state matter.

Upor called the current standoff a "war of nerves".

Orban move evicting Budapest university 'unlawful'

While the ECJ ruling says the Orban government's legislation breaks EU law, it does not change the facts on the ground, which has seen the university already leave Budapest for Vienna.

Soros' university forced out of Budapest, despite EU pledges

The American university is forced to move to Vienna, as EU institutions fail to curb Hungarian nationalist premier, Viktor Orban's push against academic freedom. "It is a dark day for Europe and a dark day for Hungary," the rector said.

Opinion

Hungary's hypocritical war on universities

The full-scale war on academia and critical and independent thinking and the longstanding attacks on the rule of law shows that it's time for the EPP to move from words to action and expel Fidesz.

Interview

Why populism appeals to less brainy EU voters

People who voted for Brexit tended to be less clever, research shows, in findings that also shed light on the appeal of EU populists, such as Dutch politician Geert Wilders, who won elections this week.

Analysis

How Wilders' Dutch extremism goes way beyond Islamophobia

Without losing sight of his pervasive Islamophobia, it is essential to note Geert Wilders' far-right extremism extends to other issues that could drastically alter the nature of Dutch politics — and end its often constructive role in advancing EU policies.

Column

How centre-right conservatives capitulate to the far-right

Many conservatives in Europe seem to have forgotten the lesson of 1930s Germany. They sacrifice their principles on the altar of the polls and all-too-often try to overtake rightwing radicals on their own pet subjects like security or migration.

Opinion

My experience trying to negotiate with Uber

After working with people in unusual employment situations for a decade, I thought I had seen it all as a union organiser. Then I began dealing with Uber.

Latest News

  1. EU belittles Russia's Lavrov on way to Skopje talks
  2. Member states stall on EU ban on forced-labour products
  3. EU calls for increased fuel supplies into Gaza
  4. People-smuggling profits at historic high, EU concedes
  5. EU bets big on fossil hydrogen and carbon storage
  6. How centre-right conservatives capitulate to the far-right
  7. My experience trying to negotiate with Uber
  8. Key battlegrounds in EU's new media legislation

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. Friedrich Naumann FoundationPoems of Liberty – Call for Submission “Human Rights in Inhume War”: 250€ honorary fee for selected poems
  2. World BankWorld Bank report: How to create a future where the rewards of technology benefit all levels of society?
  3. Georgia Ministry of Foreign AffairsThis autumn Europalia arts festival is all about GEORGIA!
  4. UNOPSFostering health system resilience in fragile and conflict-affected countries
  5. European Citizen's InitiativeThe European Commission launches the ‘ImagineEU’ competition for secondary school students in the EU.
  6. Nordic Council of MinistersThe Nordic Region is stepping up its efforts to reduce food waste

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. UNOPSUNOPS begins works under EU-funded project to repair schools in Ukraine
  2. Georgia Ministry of Foreign AffairsGeorgia effectively prevents sanctions evasion against Russia – confirm EU, UK, USA
  3. Nordic Council of MinistersGlobal interest in the new Nordic Nutrition Recommendations – here are the speakers for the launch
  4. Nordic Council of Ministers20 June: Launch of the new Nordic Nutrition Recommendations
  5. International Sustainable Finance CentreJoin CEE Sustainable Finance Summit, 15 – 19 May 2023, high-level event for finance & business
  6. ICLEISeven actionable measures to make food procurement in Europe more sustainable

Join EUobserver

Support quality EU news

Join us