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Top EU court strikes down Hungarian laws that hit Soros' university

DPA WORLD
Published October 06,2020
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The European Court of Justice (ECJ) has ruled that Hungarian legal changes that forced the relocation of George Soros' Central European University out of that country infringe on EU laws.

"The conditions introduced by Hungary to enable foreign higher education institutions to carry out their activities in its territory are incompatible with EU law," the European Union's highest court found, according to a press release.

One of the new rules - introduced in 2017 - stipulated that higher education institutions from outside the EU need a bilateral treaty between their country of origin and Hungary, and must also teach in their country of origin.

This infringed on WTO rules on fair market access embedded in EU laws, the ECJ found, as well as fundamental EU rights on academic freedom and the freedom to do business.