London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Friday, Oct 31, 2025

Hungary's Orban extends dominance through university reform

Hungary's Orban extends dominance through university reform

Hungary's parliament passed legislation on Tuesday setting up foundations to take over the running of universities and cultural institutions in a move critics say extends the ideological imprint of the ruling right-wing government.

Currently, most Hungarian universities are owned by the state but have a large amount of academic autonomy.

The bill, drafted by Prime Minister Viktor Orban's deputy, says the universities need to be reorganized and run by foundations because modern conditions require a "re-thinking of the role of the state" and the foundations will manage institutions more efficiently.

Orban's Fidesz party, which has a two-thirds majority in parliament, voted for the legislation on Tuesday.

His government will appoint boards of trustees to run the foundations, which will control substantial real estate assets and benefit from billions of euros worth of EU funds, while also having considerable influence over universities' everyday life.

The government will endow several of the foundations using its stakes in blue chip companies MOL and Richter. It will also allocate over 1 trillion forints ($3.3 billion) in EU recovery funds for the revamp of universities.

"You are planning to give away the remains of the nation's wealth to these foundations for free," opposition MP Erzsebet Schmuck from the LMP party said in parliament on Monday.

In reply, Orban said state-run universities were not being privatized and that his government was investing in higher education by giving these foundations substantial assets.

Orban, who came to power in 2010, has tightened his control over much of Hungarian public life, such as the media, education and scientific research.

'Christian values'


His government, promoting what it calls Christian, conservative values, has strongly opposed immigration and limited gay adoption and legal recognition of transgender people.

Critics say the new legislation is a government power grab aimed at extending its ideological influence.

Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban is seen in February.


Attila Chikan, a professor at the Corvinus economics university in Budapest and a former minister in Orban's first government in 1998, said the move was part of an "ideological war" declared by the prime minister.

"They make it no secret: they want to assume intellectual power after political and economic power."

He noted the move came after the government boosted controls over academic research and forced a top liberal school, Central European University, to move to Vienna in 2019.

The bill says "the fundamental expectation is that the foundations actively defend the survival and well-being of the nation and the interests of enriching its intellectual treasures."

The foundations running some of the cultural institutions would be tasked with "strengthening national identity."

The opposition said with supporters of Orban's ruling Fidesz party, and even government ministers, sitting on the boards, Orban could retain a degree of control over universities beyond the 2022 election and could undermine their autonomy.

Gergely Arato, an MP from opposition party Democratic Coalition, said the bill would take away "the property, traditions, community, knowledge" of Hungarian people and give them to government allies controlling the universities.

The government says universities would benefit from the new model. Istvan Stumpf, government commissioner in charge of the changes, declined an interview with Reuters.

In October, students at Hungary's University of Theatre and Film Arts blockaded their school in a row over the imposition of a government-appointed board that protesters said undermined the school's autonomy.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
US and China Agree One-Year Trade Truce After Trump-Xi Talks
BYD Profit Falls 33 % as Chinese EV Maker Doubles Down on Overseas Markets
US Philanthropists Shift Hundreds of Millions to UK to Evade Regulatory Uncertainty in Trump Era
Israeli Energy Minister Delays $35 Billion Gas Export Agreement with Egypt
King Charles Strips Prince Andrew of Titles and Royal Residence
Trump–Putin Budapest Summit Cancelled After Moscow Memo Raises Conditions for Ukraine Talks
Amazon Shares Soar 11% as Cloud Business Hits Fastest Growth Since 2022
Credit Markets Flooded with More Than $200 Billion of AI-Linked Debt Issuance
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent Says China Made 'a Real Mistake' by Threatening Rare-Earth Exports
Report Claims Nearly Two Billion Dollars in Foreign Charity Funds Flowed into U.S. Advocacy Groups
White House Refutes Reports That US Targeting Military Sites in Venezuela
Meta Seeks Dismissal of Strike 3’s $350 Million Copyright Lawsuit
Apple Exceeds Forecasts With $102.5 Billion Q3 Revenue Despite iPhone Miss
Israel's IDF Major General Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi Admits to Act Amounting to Aiding Hamas During Wartime (Treason)
Shawbrook IPO Marks London’s Biggest UK Listing in Two Years
UK Government Split Over Backing Brazil’s $125 Billion Tropical Forest Fund Ahead of COP30
J.K. Rowling Condemns Glamour UK Feature of Nine Trans Women as 'Men Better at Being Women'
King Charles III Removes Prince Andrew’s Titles and Orders His Departure from Royal Lodge
UK Finance Minister Reeves Releases Email Correspondence to Clarify Rental-Licence Breach
UK and Vietnam Sign Landmark Migration Deal to Fast-Track Returns of Irregular Arrivals
UK Drug-Pricing Overhaul Essential for Life-Sciences Ambition, Says GSK Chief
Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie Temporarily Leave the UK Amid Their Parents’ Royal Fallout
UK Weighs Early End to Oil and Gas Windfall Tax as Reeves Seeks Investment Commitments
UK Retail Inflation Slows as Shop Prices Fall for First Time Since Spring
Next Raises Full-Year Profit Guidance After Strong Third-Quarter Performance
Reform UK’s Lee Anderson Admits to 'Gaming' Benefits System While Advocating Crackdown
United States and South Korea Conclude Major Trade Accord Worth $350 Billion
Hurricane Melissa Strikes Cuba After Devastating Jamaica With Record Winds
Vice President Vance to Headline Turning Point USA Campus Event at Ole Miss
U.S. Targets Maritime Narco-Routes While Border Pressure to Mexico Remains Limited
Bill Gates at 70: “I Have a Real Fear of Artificial Intelligence – and Also Regret”
Elon Musk Unveils Grokipedia: An AI-Driven Alternative to Wikipedia
Saudi Arabia Unveils Vision for First-Ever "Sky Stadium" Suspended Over Desert Floor
Amazon Announces 14 000 Corporate Job Cuts as AI Investment Accelerates
UK Shop Prices Fall for First Time Since March, Food Leads the Decline
London Stock Exchange Group ADR (LNSTY) Earns Zacks Rank #1 Upgrade on Rising Earnings Outlook
Soap legend Tony Adams, long-time star of Crossroads, dies at 84
Rachel Reeves Signals Tax Increases Ahead of November Budget Amid £20-50 Billion Fiscal Gap
NatWest Past Gains of 314% Spotlight Opportunity — But Some Key Risks Remain
UK Launches ‘Golden Age’ of Nuclear with £38 Billion Sizewell C Approval
UK Announces £1.08 Billion Budget for Offshore Wind Auction to Boost 2030 Capacity
UK Seeks Steel Alliance with EU and US to Counter China’s Over-Capacity
UK Struggles to Balance China as Both Strategic Threat and Valued Trading Partner
Argentina’s Markets Surge as Milei’s Party Secures Major Win
British Journalist Sami Hamdi Detained by U.S. Authorities After Visa Revocation Amid Israel-Gaza Commentary
King Charles Unveils UK’s First LGBT+ Armed Forces Memorial at National Memorial Arboretum
At ninety-two and re-elected: Paul Biya secures eighth term in Cameroon amid unrest
Racist Incidents Against UK Nurses Surge by 55%
UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves Cites Shared Concerns With Trump Administration as Foundation for Early US-UK Trade Deal
Essentra plc: A Closer Look at a UK ‘Penny Stock’ Opportunity Amid Market Weakness
×