The DK blames the Orbán government for the fact that thousands of students at 21 universities are waiting in vain to return to the EU’s Erasmus programme. Meanwhile, Budapest accuses the EU Commission of unnecessarily delaying the negotiations and pursuing political motives.
‘More than 30,000 students at 21 universities are waiting in vain to participate in the Erasmus programme,’ said Klára Dobrev, citing a letter from the EU Commission. ‘The Orbán government has not lifted a finger, which is why students and researchers at Corvinus University in Budapest, the University of Pécs or the University of Szeged, for example, cannot participate in the programmes or claim funding.’
Activists at the university
Certainly not unrelated to this statement by the MEP, DK activist Márton Gyekiczki rolled out a banner at Corvinus University on Thursday bearing the indictment: ‘Orbán has taken Erasmus away from you!’ The 19-year-old, who has been a member of Érd’s parliament for the DK since this autumn, caused a scandal in Strasbourg weeks ago when he disrupted the Prime Minister’s press conference the day before the debate in the European Parliament to – in his own words – ‘confront Viktor Orbán with his crimes’.
‘Brussels is lying’ was the strong reaction of the responsible ministry to the opposition party’s actions after the DK sided with the EU Commission in the conflict. According to the Ministry of Culture, the EU Commission is clearly to blame for the lack of progress with Erasmus. Facts are now being served up: Hungary had already submitted a comprehensive compromise proposal to Brussels on 13 November 2023 in order to drive the negotiations forward. According to the ministry, there have been several face-to-face meetings since then, but these have made little progress.
During an informal meeting of EU education ministers on 29 February and 1 March, Balázs Hankó, then State Secretary, drew the Commission’s attention to the fact that negotiations had stalled. He called on the Commissioner responsible, Iliana Ivanova, to abandon her stalemate. A meeting on 13 May with the Vice-President of the Commission, Margaritis Schinas, also failed to produce any results.
New attempts and disappointments
On 19 September, Hankó – now Minister for Culture and Innovation – held talks with Commissioners Iliana Ivanova and Nicolas Schmit. The topic was academic freedom and the controversial EU decision to exclude all Hungarian universities run by non-profit foundations from EU programmes. The minister explained that Hungary’s government intends to submit the draft law to parliament in the autumn and is confident that the Commission will finally take a stand to bring the issue to a close.
On 18 October, the EU ministry sent the draft law to Director-General Stéphanie Riso. Just one week later, on 25 October, another meeting took place between Hankó and Markus Schulte, the head of Ivanova’s cabinet, and head of department Mario Nava. The Hungarians emphasised that the draft law was identical to the proposal submitted back in 2023, which included regulations on conflicts of interest for members of the Board of Trustees, including a one-year waiting period and a limitation of terms of office to two six-year terms.
After all this, the Ministry is now sharply criticising the behaviour of the EU Commission. Brussels has deliberately blocked the negotiation process and is now desperately looking for a way out without any valid arguments. The Commission is accused of deliberately delaying the negotiations in order to maintain political leverage and discrimination against Hungarian students.
