While Hungarian MEPs from liberal opposition parties have supported the Erasmus ban penalizing their fellow Hungarians, Fidesz MEP Andrea Bocskor is fighting hard to get students and teachers back into the programme and thus help their academic careers.
Led by Hungarian MEPs Katalin Cseh and Anna Donáth, the left-wing majority in the European Parliament persisted in depriving Hungarian students and researchers of the benefits of Erasmus+. In a statement issued after the EP vote, Fidesz MEPs described the actions of the far-left Momentum MEPs as disgraceful.
Currently, there is ongoing correspondence between the government and the European Commission regarding the remaining contentious issues related to the frozen EU funds. The dialogue is a follow-up of Minister for Regional Development Tibor Navracsics and Minister for European Union Affairs János Bóka’s talks in Brussels in early September on the release of EU funds and the resolution of the Erasmus dispute.
Iliana Ivanova remarked on the unfortunate situation where young people are missing out on opportunities, emphasizing, however, that ‘rules are rules and must be adhered to.’
Some thoughts on why the EU-Commission should not take students hostage. And why Hungary maybe isn’t as bad as they want us believe.
‘What does the European Commission have to do with Hungarian education? In short, nothing. Education matters, both in terms of content and in terms of structure, are the responsibility of the Member States.’
Minister Navracsics warned in his letter that by cutting the Erasmus funding, the European Commission is violating Article 13 of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights.
At the InnoTrans 2024 International Transport Exhibition in Berlin Hungarian state railways MÁV, MÁV-START, and the Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB) signed a cooperation agreement to enhance passenger and freight services. The agreement aims to reduce travel times on the Budapest–Vienna route and improve collaboration in technical areas, promising a faster, more efficient rail network by 2028.
Speaking at the festive senate meeting marking the start of the academic year at the University of Pécs on the Day of Hungarian Higher Education, State Secretary Varga-Bajusz noted that higher education serves students, families, teachers, the Hungarian economy, and the Hungarian nation—essentially, it is ‘for us, our present, and our future.’
The SpaceBuzz-HU, which allows for virtual space travel, is part of an educational programme demonstrating the fragility of our planet and will be made available to Hungarian schools free of charge.
Hungarian Conservative is a quarterly magazine on contemporary political, philosophical and cultural issues from a conservative perspective.