This archive report was first published on 2 July 2019.
July 2, 2019 - Budapest, Hungary
Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban has tightened his grip on the country's research institutes, with the parliament passing a bill that enables the government to take control of these institutions.
The bill, approved by 131 lawmakers in the 199-seat assembly, gives Orban's government control over a vast network of research institutes currently run by the Hungarian Academy of Sciences (MTA), a two-century-old institution.
Orban's critics argue that since coming to power in 2010, he has gradually tightened his control over key institutions in Hungary, including public media, the judiciary, and the education sector.
Scientists have condemned the move as a threat to academic freedom, with the MTA's president stating that the reforms 'threaten academic freedom' and have alarmed 'the vast majority of Hungarian scientists.'
The MTA is the country's oldest and largest scientific institution, employing around 5,000 staff nationwide, including 3,000 researchers, and performing a vast range of research from philosophy to music, animal husbandry to space research.
Orban has argued that Hungary needs to boost its performance in international innovation rankings and create more economic profit from science, with the government setting up a new Innovation and Technology Ministry (ITM) to begin moving control of scientific funding away from the MTA.
Thousands have demonstrated in Budapest in solidarity with the MTA at several street protests since the bill was drafted earlier this year, with a new protest planned for Tuesday afternoon.
