This week a draft bill amending a 2011 Act on National Higher Education is scheduled to be debated in the Hungarian Parliament. This bill, if implemented, will significantly undermine the operation of international academic institutions based in Hungary.
The European Political Science Association does not interfere with domestic political issues of any country, but it speaks out whenever measures have significant detrimental effects on its key aim of promoting free and independent political science research in Europe. Scholars from Hungarian international academic institutions, most notably from the Central European University, have actively participated at EPSA Annual Conferences. They have significantly enriched our scientific understanding of politics and made important contributions to the discipline of political science.
The European Political Science Association considers intended reform of the Hungarian Act of Higher Education as a serious threat to academic freedom. We call upon the democratic institutions in Hungary to reconsider these proposals, to abstain from any form of discrimination of international academic institutions, and to protect and promote academic freedom of scientists working in Hungary.
Fabio Franchino, President
Orit Kedar, President-Elect
Thomas Plümper, Treasurer-Vice-President
Kenneth Benoit, Executive Director
3 April 2017