Dear European Parliament, European Commission and Government of Hungary:

 

We write to you as the Directors of Centers for East European, Russian and Eurasian Studies across the United States, in Germany and in the United Kingdom. As scholars and experts on the region, we forcefully protest the recent amendments to the Hungarian National Higher Education Act that pose an existential threat to the Central European University in Budapest. These actions threaten academic freedom across the region and in Europe as a whole.

We join the vigorous protest from observers around the world: academic, intellectual and political leaders in Europe, the US and globally who most vehemently object to this assault on the CEU. This legislation constitutes a violation of freedom of speech and of inquiry. It is unwarranted interference in a private educational institution that has been operating productively and with careful observance of Hungarian law for over 25 years.

We respect and admire the academic excellence of the CEU, the great contributions that it has made to Hungarian, European and global scholarship. The CEU is a valued member of the international academic community. It has nourished cooperation across countries through the training of young people from Hungary and the entire east European region. As an English-language university accredited in New York State as well as in Hungary it has enabled young people from Hungary and other parts of the region to more effectively participate in business, governance, scholarship and law both nationally and internationally. It has complemented and enhanced other institutions of higher education across the region.

 

The CEU has added to Hungary’s status on the international stage, supporting Budapest’s and Hungary’s artistic, scholarly and economic growth, furthering the city’s and country’s powerful heritage of intellectual life. This attack goes against Hungary’s long-term interests and its tradition of excellence in higher education. It damages Hungary’s strong academic reputation and its relationships with European partners and the United States.

We call on the Hungarian government to rescind this legislation; to recognize the CEU; to provide a stable legal basis for its open and innovative intellectual inquiry and to enable the continuation of the CEU in what has been a productive cooperation with the Hungarian government, beneficial to the young people of the region, for a quarter century.

We stand in solidarity with the students and faculty of the Central European University.

 

Sincerely yours,

 

Prof. Susan Gal (Anthropology and Linguistics)

Director, Center for East European, Russian and Eurasian Studies,

University of Chicago

 

Prof. Dr. Martin Schulze Wessel (History)

Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, München

Graduiertenschule für Ost- und Südosteuropastudien

 

Prof. Geneviève Zubrzycki (Sociology)

Director, Weiser Center for Europe and Eurasia, CREES, CES, CPPS

University of Michigan

 

Prof. Julia L. Mickenberg (Amerian Studies)

Acting Director, Center for Russian East European and Eurasian Studies

University of Texas at Austin

 

Prof. David L. Cooper (Slavic Languages and Literatures)

Director, Russian, East European, and Eurasian Center

University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign

 

Prof. Theodore P. Gerber (Sociology)

Director, Center for Russia, East Europe, and Central Asia

University of Wisconsin-Madison

 

Prof. Jan Kubik (Political Science)

Director, School of Slavonic and East European Studies

University College London

 

Prof. Rawi Abdelal (International Management)

Director, Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies

Harvard University

 

Prof. Pavle Levi (Art and Art History)

Director of Center for Russian, East European and Eurasian Studies

Stanford University

 

Prof. Sarah D. Phillips (Anthropology)

Director, Russian and East European Institute

Indiana University

 

Prof. John Connelly (History)

Director, Institute of Slavic, East European and Eurasian Studies

University of California, Berkeley

 

Prof. Jill Bystydzienski (Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies)

Director, Center for Slavic and East European Studies The Ohio State University

 

Scott Radnitz (International Studies)

Director, Center for Russian East European and Centra Asian Studies

University of Washington