Hungarian Prime Minister Victor Orbán has forced Central European University (CEU) to move its U.S. degree courses to Vienna by making it impossible for CEU to issue American degrees in Budapest.
CEU is nevertheless determined to maintain both academic and public activities on its campus in Budapest and it has the full support of the Open Society Foundations and me personally in this endeavor.
I therefore reiterate the commitment—made in June—that CEU has an assured future: the Open Society Foundations intend to increase CEU’s endowments.
I should like to thank the perseverance and loyalty of the CEU community under the inspired leadership of its president and rector Michael Ignatieff in very difficult circumstances. I am also grateful for the steadfast support CEU received both from the Hungarian public and the global academic community. With their support, CEU has emerged as the beacon and symbol of academic freedom worldwide.