Soros-Founded CEU Says It's Close to Resolving Hungary Conflict

(Bloomberg) -- The George Soros-founded Central European University said it's been informed that Hungary's government has reached the basis of an agreement with New York State that may help resolve a conflict that threatened to shut the institution in Budapest.

“We await the Hungarian government's signature of the agreement and parliament's ratification in order to enable CEU to continue operating in Budapest, which has always been our goal,” CEU said in an email.

The European Union's executive has started legal proceedings against Hungary over its amendment of an education law that CEU said was targeted at it because it mandates that only colleges with campuses in their home countries can stay open. CEU signed a memorandum of understanding with Bard College to help it meet the criteria. The European Commission said Hungary's amendment violated EU rules while the European Parliament in May said it was part of a series of changes that posed a “clear risk of a serious breach” of the rule of law.

To contact the reporter on this story: Zoltan Simon in Budapest at zsimon@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Balazs Penz at bpenz@bloomberg.net.