(12 Apr 2017) Tens of thousands of protesters demonstrated in front of Hungary's parliament on Wednesday to oppose government policies that are seen as limiting academic freedom and intimidating civic groups.
The protesters held up lights from their smart phones, waved European Union flags and chanted anti-government slogans.
Recent amendments to the country's higher education law have been viewed by many as an attack on Budapest-based Central European University, founded by Hungarian-born American financier George Soros in 1991.
Soros' vision of an open society contrasts strongly with Prime Minister Viktor Orban's conservative, anti-immigrant views, and Orban sees these groups as working against Hungarian interests.
CEU is registered in Hungary and New York state, but does not have a US campus, one of the new conditions set in the law signed Monday.
Several large street protests have been held in the past two weeks in support of CEU, while hundreds of Hungarian and foreign academics and many universities have expressed their backing for the institution, which has over 1,400 students.
Some of the protesters on the streets felt the government wouldn't back down in face of the ongoing demonstrations, with one saying the government "simply ignores" parts of society.
The US State Department has urged the Hungarian government to suspend the law.
Hungarian government spokesman Zoltan Kovacs said the law could not be suspended but that the government is open to holding talks on the issue.
The university said it has not been approached directly by authorities.
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