UvA resumes exchange programme with Hungary following EU decision
Starting in September, the University of Amsterdam will once again be able to host Hungarian students through the Erasmus+ exchange programme. The sanctions imposed by the European Union on Hungarian universities in 2022 are set to be lifted.
“Thanks to Erasmus+, Europeans fall in love with another language, culture, and the people who live there. It is important that young Hungarians can experience that as well.” With those words, Ursula von der Leyen announced last week that Hungary will once again be allowed to participate in the European exchange programme Erasmus+. Because of European sanctions, it is currently impossible for Hungarian students to study at universities such as the University of Amsterdam through the programme. That situation is now set to change.
Sanctions
The sanctions, which affected 26 Hungarian universities, were imposed more than three years ago because of concerns about conflicts of interest, a lack of transparency, and the erosion of academic freedom. The universities were governed by boards containing members of the Fidesz party of former prime minister Viktor Orbán, allowing political influence to be exercised over higher education institutions.
Now that newly elected leader Péter Magyar has pledged to restore academic freedom in Hungary, the European Commission has decided to lift the sanctions. This will take place before the start of the next academic year, meaning Hungarian students will once again be able to study at the University of Amsterdam through the Erasmus+ programme after the summer. Exchanges in the opposite direction, however, remained possible throughout the sanction period.
Committee on Collaboration with Third Parties
Following the EU sanctions – which also covered the Horizon Europe research programme – the UvA, acting on the advice of its Committee on Collaboration with Third Parties, also suspended ties with the affected Hungarian universities. “At the time, this was due to the severe restrictions on academic freedom in Hungary,” said rector magnicifus Peter-Paul Verbeek. “It would also have been very strange if the UvA had ignored the decisions of the EU and continued collaborating with these institutions.”
It remains unclear whether the university is now prepared to actively restore those partnerships, although that would seem likely. When the measures were first announced, the university stated that “any future cooperation would remain dependent on the European Commission’s sanctions policy and would be reassessed by the Committee on Collaboration with Third Parties”.
