The plight of Hungarian students blocked from the EU’s Erasmus programme was aired at a public hearing in the European Parliament on June 7th as academics and students discussed how Hungary’s expulsion from the exchange network negatively affected their studies.
Hungary was removed from the EU educational programme earlier this year in a clear escalation of Budapest’s political dispute with Brussels over so-called “rule of law” matters and the political stances of the ruling Órban government.
As the program was designed to facilitate European students’ ability to study abroad in another European country, critics of the decision say the move unfairly penalises Hungarian students and is a gross overreach by the EU Commission in dealing with a member state.
Hungary was also removed from the prestigious Horizon funding programme, which focuses on grants for scientific research, as the Commission alleges that recent university reforms in Hungary posed a risk to academic freedom.
The public hearing was hosted by Fidesz MEP Andrea Bocskor and was attended by various university rectors, researchers, and students who individually described how the expulsion had affected their work.
Six Hungarian universities are appealing the EU’s decision to the European Court of Justice (ECJ) regarding a parallel decision to ban Hungarian colleges from receiving EU funding.
A number of Hungarian rectors spoke at length about how the education of their pupils was jeopardised by the EU’s decision and denied any influence from the government on their day-to-day operations. All in attendance expressed their confidence that the ban would be overturned by the ECJ, as Fidesz MEP Balázs Hidvéghi described how “political debate has turned into political blackmail” in his country’s dealing with EU institutions.
A total of 180,000 students were impacted by the Commission’s decision to suspend Hungary from directly-funded EU Erasmus programmes. The rectors of 21 Hungarian universities wrote an open letter asking Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to reverse her decision.
The Hungarian government has been at odds with the EU and other member states for most of the last nine years over its migration and social policy, aggravated by Budapest’s nuanced position on the invasion of Ukraine.
Former EU official Rodrigo Ballester, who recently wrote a scathing commentary on this topic for The European Conservative, compared the treatment of Hungary to the tolerance shown to authoritarian regimes such as Turkey at an event hosted by the think tank MCC Brussels. Turkey is still a member of the Erasmus programme despite repeated human rights abuses by its government.
