The story
Founded by George Soros in 1991.1
Early years (1989–1993)
CEU evolved from a series of lectures held at the Inter-University Centre Dubrovnik in Dubrovnik, Yugoslavia, (now Croatia). In Spring 1989, as historic change was gathering momentum in the region, the need for a new, independent, international university was being considered. The minutes of the gathering held in April 1989 record a discussion among scholars such as Andorka Rudolf, Hanák Péter, Tardos Márton, István Teplán, Miklós Vámos and Miklós Vásárhelyi from Budapest, William Newton-Smith and Kathleen Wilkes from Oxford, Jan Havránek, Michal Illner and Jiří Kořalka from Prague, and Krzysztof Michalski and Włodzimierz Siwiński from Warsaw.
In 1989–90, a serious attempt was undertaken to establish Central European University in the Slovak capital of Bratislava, but it fell through due to nationalist politicians' opposition.
The university was founded in 1991 in response to the fall of the Socialist Bloc. The founding vision was to create a university dedicated to examining the contemporary challenges of "open societies" and democratization. The initial aim was to create a Western-modeled yet distinctly Central European institution that would foster inter-regional cooperation and educate a new corps of regional leaders to help usher in democratic transitions across the region. CEU was set up in Budapest, Prague, and Warsaw.
The idea of a tri-city (Prague-Budapest-Warsaw) international graduate school was supported by then Czech President Václav Havel, Hungarian President Árpád Göncz and Polish historian Bronislaw Geremek, who later became Polish Foreign Minister.
The university was originally located mostly in Prague, and held its first classes there with around 100 students from 20 countries. Because of "political and financial conflict between its founder and [the] Czech government", represented by then prime minister Václav Klaus, in January 1993 it was moved to Budapest. The university's presence in Prague ended in 1997.
Budapest (1993–2017)
In its second decade, CEU broadened its focus from regional to global, with a special emphasis on democracy promotion and human rights around the world. It has since developed a distinct academic approach, combining regional studies with an international perspective, emphasizing comparative and interdisciplinary research in order to generate new scholarship and policy initiatives, and to promote good governance and the rule of law. CEU has extended its outreach and financial aid programs to certain areas of the developing world.
CEU began the region's first master's degree programs in gender studies and environmental sciences. The CEU Center for Media, Data and Society (now the newly independent Media and Journalism Research Center) is the leading center of research on media, communication, and information policy in the region. Soros was one of the largest contributors to CEU’s endowment, pledging $202 million to the university’s endowment in 2005, which was valued in 2010 at $880 million. On 14 October 2007, George Soros stepped down as chairman of CEU Board. Leon Botstein (president of Bard College, New York), who had previously served as the vice-chair of the board, was elected as new chairman for a two-year term. George Soros is a Life-CEU trustee and serves as honorary chairman of the board.
On 1 August 2009, Rector Yehuda Elkana was succeeded by human rights leader and legal scholar John Shattuck. In May 2016, Michael Ignatieff was chosen to succeed Shattuck; he took office on 21 October 2017, becoming the fifth president and rector of the university.
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Relocation (2017–2019)
On 28 March 2017, Hungarian Minister of Human Resources Zoltán Balog, also responsible for education, submitted a bill to Parliament to amend Act CCIV of 2011 on National Higher Education. The bill proposed new regulations for foreign-operating universities, several of which would affect CEU. Notably, such universities could only operate if the Hungarian government had an agreement with the university's other country of operation. (CEU's operating agreement was between the State of New York and the city of Budapest). In addition, a university operating outside of the European Union should have a campus in its other country of operation, where comparable degree programs would be offered (in 2017 it was not the case for CEU). Furthermore, both current and new non-EU academic staff would be required to apply for work permits. This requirement was seen by critics as placing CEU at a particular disadvantage, given that it relied largely on non-EU faculty. Finally, the law would also prohibit the American and Hungarian entities from sharing the same name.
CEU opposed the bill, noting that "these amendments [to Act CCIV of 2011 on National Higher Education] would make it impossible for the University to continue its operations as an institution of higher education in Budapest, CEU's home for 25 years", and that "CEU is in full conformity with Hungarian law."The same day, the pro-government news website Origo.hu asserted that CEU, which it referred to as "Soros University" (George Soros being its founder and main benefactor, and also known as an opponent of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and his Fidesz party), operated unlawfully in Hungary, citing regulatory infractions. Origo also referred to a report prepared by Hungary's Educational Authority, which revealed that 28 universities, including CEU, were being investigated for operating unlawfully in Hungary. CEU responded that the allegations of cheating and regulatory infractions constituted defamations and libel, and threatened to sue Origo if the article was not corrected.
On 29 March 2017, President and Rector-elect Ignatieff, Pro-Rector for Hungarian Affairs Zsolt Enyedi and, Pro-Rector for Social Sciences and Humanities Éva Fodor said that "the legislation tabled by the Hungarian government relating to higher education is targeted and discriminatory, attacks CEU, and is an unacceptable assault on our academic freedom... [and] the academic freedom of Hungarian higher education in general." Later, Ignatieff and Enyedi met Secretary of State for Education László Palkovics. CEU then called "for the government to withdraw this legislation and enter into negotiations to find a solution."
On 31 March 2017, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán stated in an interview on public radio that the future of "Soros University" depended on US-Hungarian talks. He said that CEU was "cheating" by awarding both Hungarian and American degrees, despite not operating abroad. This was a breach of Hungarian regulations, which gave an unfair advantage to CEU over the other 21 foreign universities in Hungary. CEU responded that it was not cheating nor in breach of Hungarian regulations. Indeed, according to CEU, no laws in effect required universities such as CEU also to operate in their countries of origin. However, Szilard Nemeth, vice chairman of Fidesz, was more blunt, stating that civil society groups with funding from Soros should be "swept out" of Hungary.
On the same day, the first Trump administration expressed concern about the proposed legislation, which would "negatively affect or even lead to the closure of Central European University (CEU) in Budapest", and urging the Hungarian government not to take "any legislative action that would compromise CEU's operations or independence."
Hungary's ombudsman for educational rights, Lajos Aary-Tamas, called the amendment to the Higher Education Law "discriminatory against CEU", and said that during his 17 years in office he had never received any complaint about CEU's legal status. Hungarian EU Commissioner for Education, Culture, Multilingualism and Youth Tibor Navracsics (a Hungarian), and former President of Hungary László Sólyom also expressed support.
Academics and academic institutions from Hungary, Latvia, Poland, Russia, Romania, Germany, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, the United States, and other countries expressed support for CEU. CEU itself started a campaign of support, with the slogans #aCEUvalvagyok Central European University in Hungarian and #IstandwithCEU Central European University in English. The campaign used social media to call on supporters to express their solidarity with CEU and write to Hungarian representatives.
British author Tibor Fischer supported the legislation. Fischer defended Orban against "charges of antisemitism", indicating that the government "introduced Holocaust education into schools, passed a Holocaust denial law and...financed Son of Saul, a film about Auschwitz that [went on to win] an Oscar." He specified that he opposes the practice whereby CEU, being registered in New York City, can issue a diploma accredited in the United States but without actually operating a campus in America within the provisions of the law as every other Hungarian campus, a situation that he described as CEU students "getting a double bubble."2017 protests in Hungary were held on April 2 in the form of a walk from Budapest's Corvinus University to Parliament, passing by Eötvös Loránd University and CEU. The demonstration brought together thousands of protesters, with protest speeches by both CEU and foreign academics and activists, and was broadcast live on Facebook by Hír TV.
In the wake of the new Hungarian legislation, the Czech Minister of Finance Andrej Babiš proposed CEU be moved to Prague, Czech Republic, offering particular buildings in the centre of the city that the university might use.
On 3 April 2017, CEU submitted a legal memorandum to the Hungarian parliament, raising substantial issues about the legality and constitutionality of the proposed legislation, and pledged to continue to it using all available legal means in Hungary and in the EU. On the same day, the Hungarian parliament decided to debate and vote on the draft bill the following day, after a request by Deputy Prime Minister Zsolt Semjén, also head of the Christian Democrats, the junior party in the government coalition. Semjén said his request was justified by "government interests to pass the law early."The New York Times wrote "Mr. Orban has long viewed the school as a bastion of liberalism, presenting a threat to his vision of creating an 'illiberal democracy,' and his desire to shut it down was only deepened by its association with Mr. Soros, a philanthropist who was born in Hungary. [He] has spent years demonizing Mr. Soros, a Jew who survived the Nazi occupation of Hungary, accusing him of seeking to destroy European civilization by promoting illegal immigration, and often tapping into anti-Semitic tropes." Vox wrote that CEU "was a casualty of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán's turn toward authoritarianism, his development of a quietly repressive system that I've termed 'soft fascism'. CEU, a university dedicated to liberal principles and founded by Hungarian-American billionaire George Soros, posed a threat to Orbán's ideological project. So Orbán put into place a set of characteristically sneaky regulations aimed at forcing out CEU without needing to formally ban them, eventually crushing the university's ability to operate." The Washington Post commented that CEU had "become the prime target of Orban's campaign to dismantle Europe's multicultural, tolerant liberalism and cement a culture that is unapologetically Christian, conservative, and nationalist."
Vienna (2019–present)
On 3 December 2018 the university announced it would relocate the majority of its operations to Vienna in September 2019, after the Hungarian government's refusal to sign an agreement allowing it to continue teaching its US-accredited programs in Hungary. Less than one fifth of CEU's programs, that are locally accredited, would remain in Budapest. The university retains accreditation as a Hungarian university and has sought to continue teaching and research activity in Budapest as long as possible, with current students completing their studies in Budapest.After failing to promote a deal between the US and Hungary that would keep CEU in Budapest, US Ambassador to Hungary, David Cornstein, an appointee of the first Trump administration, said on 30 November that the whole issue "had to do with [Orban and Soros]. It had nothing to do with academic freedom or civil liberties".
This withdrawal is the result of a long legal battle between the university and Viktor Orbán's government, and is set in the wider context of contemporary Hungarian politics. This situation has sparked discourse regarding academic freedom in Hungary, and spurred widespread protests in favour of CEU. On 6 October 2020, the European Court of Justice ruled that the "lex CEU" legislation, drawn up by the Hungarian government, was incompatible with European Union law.
In June 2021, Ignatieff announced that he would be stepping down as president and rector of the university, and that Shalini Randeria would succeed him as the sixth rector and president. Randeria is the first woman to serve in this role at the university.
In October 2023, Russia designated the university as an "undesirable" organization.
In the context of Hamas' attack on Israel on 7 October 2023 and the subsequent Gaza genocide, on October 14, the Jewish Studies Department published a statement in support of Israel. On October 20, the newly formed "Free Palestine Collective" at CEU published an open letter called "Drop the Neutrality, Condemn the Ongoing genocide in Palestine". The Department of Gender Studies published a Statement on the escalation of violence in Gaza on October 23. A series of events planned in cooperation with the University of Vienna, at which BDS activists were also due to speak, was canceled by the University of Vienna, nevertheless took place at CEU. A lecture at CEU entitled "CEU Talks: Hamas' 7 October Attack, Terrorism Strategy and State-building" was massively disrupted by students despite the presence of Rector Shalini Randeria. In a press release, the Austrian Union of Jewish Students and the European Union of Jewish Students accused CEU of ignoring the threat to Jewish students and that the Rector was refusing to meet with Jewish student representatives.
An open letter from the South-South Movement, signed by 180 CEU students and alumni and published on November 7, responded by rejecting the conflation of criticism to the country of Israel and semitism. Jewish CEU students also published an Open Letter on social media titled "Not in Our Name", which received support from organizations such as Jewish Voice for Peace. In January 2024, CEU students newspaper The Stand published a piece on it, framed as a debate between a full professor and a BA student who chose to stay anonymous to avoid retaliation. In it, philosophy professor Hanoch Ben-Yami claims: "There is no genocide in Gaza. Anybody who claims that is either ignorant or stupid or corrupt." The Stand did not editorialize or provide context to the claims.
In November 2024, Randeria resigned as a rector before the end of her term. According to media reports, she was pushed out by the board after intense internal criticism of her leadership. Carsten Q. Schneider was elected CEU's Interim President and Rector, and would serve from August 1, 2025 to July 31, 2026.
In February 2026, Austrian police entered the CEU Campus to ask questions about a staff member's stand at the entry, where she displayed books about the Gaza genocide. She was questioned in public and the anti-genocide stickers were confiscated. The interim rector Carsten Schneider reacted to it by claiming, in an email sent to the whole student body and staff, that CEU should defend academic freedom by appointing a special contact person on antisemitism.
From Wikipedia’s article on Central European University, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4