Fidesz offered pact on Central European University

The leader of the main conservative faction in the European Parliament said he tried to keep Hungary’s ruling Fidesz party in the group with an offer to resolve the dispute over the Central European University, which says it is being forced to leave the country, writes Marton Dunai for Reuters.

Hungary’s moves against the Central European University, founded by Hungarian-American financier George Soros, were one of the issues that have led to a threat by the European People’s Party (EPP) to eject Fidesz. The university says legal changes have left it no choice but to move to Austria.

Manfred Weber, the EPP candidate for European Commission president after the EU elections due in May, told journalists on Tuesday that he had developed a plan under which the Technical University of Munich, German auto maker BMW and American universities would create new teaching capacity for CEU to keep it in Budapest.
Full report on the Reuters site

It was reported earlier by Reuters that crunch talks last Tuesday between Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and European People’s Party leader Manfred Weber have failed to resolve their differences, meaning expulsion of Orban’s Fidesz party from the centre-right grouping is still possible.
Full report on the Reuters site