Orbán's Hungary drove a top university campus into exile. JD Vance said it should be a model for the U.S.

Orbán's Hungary drove a top university campus into exile. JD Vance said it should be a model for the U.S.

The Central European University, founded by George Soros after the fall of communism, says the authoritarian government of Viktor Orbán forced 90% of its teaching operations out of the country.

Stop Calling Hungary an Authoritarian Playbook

A popular explanation for today’s attacks on academic freedom is that the Trump administration is following an authoritarian playbook, with Hungary under Viktor Orbán cast as the model. As someone who lived in Hungary for five years, earned two degrees in gender studies at Central European University in Budapest, and later completed a doctorate in the United States, I have firsthand experience with Hungary’s attacks on higher education. The play…

Hungary drove a top university into exile. JD Vance said it should be a model for the U.S.

When the Central European University moved academic activities to Vienna, 130 miles west over the border with Austria, its then rector, Michael Ignatieff, described it as a “dark day for freedom in Hungary” and for academia. Someone with a different view of the strongman’s education crackdown is Vice President JD Vance, who was in Hungary this week trying to boost Orbán’s flagging polls ahead of a crucial election Sunday. Vance has championed Or…