The new higher education legislation conforms to the relevant European legal norms, and Hungary is therefore ready to face all investigations, János Lázár said in response to the Wednesday resolution adopted by the European Parliament with respect to the situation in Hungary after his forum held with the participation of members of the public in the locality of Kiszombor in Csongrád County.

The Minister heading the Prime Minister’s Office described the motion for resolution seeking preparations for the launch of the procedure under Article 7 as “a threat and an exertion of pressure”. He remarked: this will be the umpteenth investigation in the European Parliament against Hungary, „there is nothing new about this”. He stressed that, in his view, the same rules must apply to every university operating in Hungary, including György Soros’s Central European University.

Mr Lázár said: György Soros’s lobby in Brussels is strong, “Soros has enormous influence over the left”. Hungary will not yield to the exertion of political pressure, he stated.

At the forum, Mr Lázár said in the context of the decision of the European Parliament adopted on Wednesday: the European Parliament condemned the country “in a manner that is pleasing for György Soros” because it intended to withdraw the privileges formerly enjoyed by the Soros university. Those who voted for the more stringent resolution voted against Hungary. “We cannot accept this”, the Minister said.

In its Wednesday resolution, the European Parliament called upon the Hungarian Government, inter alia, to suspend the deadlines stated in the new higher education legislation and to assume an obligation to ensure that the Central European University may remain in Budapest as a free institution.

(MTI)