Hungary: Soros-founded university vows resistance to new law

CEU, opened in 1991, was founded by Hungarian-born billionaire philanthropist George Soros, considered an ideological opponent by Prime Minister Viktor Orban.

"The timing of the legislation coincides with the wide-ranging attacks on the Soros institutions, which makes it hard to see it as a mere fluke," said analyst Gergely Rajnai from the Center for Fair Political Analysis, a Budapest think tank.

If passed, the new rules could force CEU to change its name and would also eliminate a waiver for professors from non-EU countries who now are exempt from having to secure a work permit.

Earlier Wednesday, Education Secretary Laszlo Palkovics said the government supported CEU's work, does not want CEU to leave Hungary and would back a bilateral agreement between Hungary and the United States that the Central European University would need to continue its activities.

Orban, who once studied at Oxford University thanks to a Soros scholarship, has repeatedly complained about Soros' Open Society Foundations for many non-governmental groups, including corruption watchdog Transparency International and the Hungarian Helsinki Committee, whose lawyers often provide assistance to asylum seekers.