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The Trump administration tried to save a U.S. university by playing nice with an autocrat. It failed
Source: Washington Post
The Trump administration tried to save a U.S. university by playing nice with an autocrat. It failed.
By Griff Witte
November 30 at 1:50 PM
BUDAPEST — The future of a revered American university was on the line, and President Trump’s ambassador came to Hungary on a mission to save it.
When David B. Cornstein arrived in Budapest last summer, Central European University faced an imminent threat of ejection by the government of Prime Minister Viktor Orban. Rather than try to shame the increasingly authoritarian leader into backing down, Cornstein sought to charm him.
He told Hungarian media he saw no hint of government infringement on liberties or human rights, despite mounting evidence to the contrary. He vouched for Orban with his longtime friend, the president. And after a meeting with the right-wing prime minister in September, Cornstein pronounced that the two had used their easy rapport to reach the cusp of a deal that would keep CEU in Hungary forever.
It was not to be. On Monday, the university plans to announce it has been kicked out of the country — a dark waypoint in Hungary’s crackdown on civil society and an ominous sign for U.S. institutions operating under autocratic regimes worldwide.
“The startling fact is that an American institution that has been in this country for 25 years is being thrown out by a U.S. and NATO ally,” said Michael Ignatieff, the university’s president. “It’s a warning. Once the rule of law is tampered with, no institution is safe.”
-snip-
By Griff Witte
November 30 at 1:50 PM
BUDAPEST — The future of a revered American university was on the line, and President Trump’s ambassador came to Hungary on a mission to save it.
When David B. Cornstein arrived in Budapest last summer, Central European University faced an imminent threat of ejection by the government of Prime Minister Viktor Orban. Rather than try to shame the increasingly authoritarian leader into backing down, Cornstein sought to charm him.
He told Hungarian media he saw no hint of government infringement on liberties or human rights, despite mounting evidence to the contrary. He vouched for Orban with his longtime friend, the president. And after a meeting with the right-wing prime minister in September, Cornstein pronounced that the two had used their easy rapport to reach the cusp of a deal that would keep CEU in Hungary forever.
It was not to be. On Monday, the university plans to announce it has been kicked out of the country — a dark waypoint in Hungary’s crackdown on civil society and an ominous sign for U.S. institutions operating under autocratic regimes worldwide.
“The startling fact is that an American institution that has been in this country for 25 years is being thrown out by a U.S. and NATO ally,” said Michael Ignatieff, the university’s president. “It’s a warning. Once the rule of law is tampered with, no institution is safe.”
-snip-
Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/the-trump-administration-tried-to-save-a-us-university-by-playing-nice-with-an-autocrat-it-failed/2018/11/30/f028718a-e831-11e8-8449-1ff263609a31_story.html
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