A kormány akár már hétfőn tárgyalhatja azt a törvénymódosítását, amely a Magyarországon működő külföldi egyetemeket szabályozná. A törvényjavaslat több pontja is kifejezetten a CEU-t hozná hátrányos helyzetbe, esetleg lehetetlenítené el. A miniszterelnök meg sem próbálta azt a látszatot kelteni, mintha nem a CEU ellen hozták volna a törvényt, telecsalózta a közrádiót pár napja olyan törvényi szabályok nem betartására hivatkozva, amelyek még meg sem születtek.

A törvényjavaslat ellen felszólalt már több hazai egyetemi tanszék mellett 14 Nobel-díjas, illetve az amerikai nagykövetség, sőt, maga az amerikai külügyminisztérium is. Ez folytatódott ma egy, a kormánynak írt nyílt levéllel, amit 119 amerikai társadalomtudós, történész jegyez, írja a Budapest Beacon.

Azt írják: "Csoportunk olyan észak-amerikai társadalomtudósokból és történészekből áll, akik egész szakmai karrierjük során Közép-Európa, Kelet-Európa és Eurázsia kutatásával foglalkoztak. Magunkat a régió népeinek, országainak barátainak tekintjük, az 1989 óta történt változások inspiráltak és inspirálnak bennünket ma is. Az utóbbi napokban megdöbbentett minket az a beterjesztett törvényjavaslat, amely bezárással fenyegeti a Közép-európai Egyetemet (CEU). Bár a szabályok általános érvényűek, egyes rendelkezések kizárólag egyetlen intézményt érintenek az országban. Ezzel a fortéllyal senkit nem lehet becsapni.

A Közép-európai Egyetem egy világklasszis intézet, amely jelentős mértékben járul hozzá ahhoz a tudományághoz, melyben mi magunk is dolgozunk. Ostobaság lenne a hivatkozott okok miatt bezáratni azt, ám itt több forog kockán, nagyobb a tét: különösen az egyetemes emberi szólásszabadsághoz és szabad lelkiismerethez fűződő jogról van szó. Ezek olyan értékek, amelyekért magyarok generációi harcoltak és adták életüket 1848-ban, 1956-ban és 1989-ben. Demokráciákban a hatalmat megszerző politikusoknak fel kell készülniük a kritika elviselésére, és szembe kell nézniük azzal a lehetőséggel, hogy végül elveszítik hatalmukat.

A magyar kormány látszólagos vágya a bíráló hangok elnémítására, illetve az összes alternatíva kivezetésére a politikai hadszintérről rövidlátó gondolkodásra vall, és szemben áll a fenti értékekkel. Megdöbbenésünk okait tudatni fogjuk megválasztott képviselőinkkel, kormányainkkal és a nyilvánossággal. Ennek megfelelően ezúton nyilatkozunk, hogy ellenezzük a beterjesztett, büntető törvényjavaslatot, és teljes mértékben szolidaritást vállalunk az egyetem rektorával, hallgatóival, alkalmazottaival és a Közép-európai egyetem tantestületével.”

És az aláírók:

• Farrell Ackerman, Director, Human Development Program, Professor, Department of Linguistics, UC San Diego
• Hilary Appel, Professor of Government, Claremont McKenna College
• Andrew Arato, Dorothy Hart Hirshon Professor of Political and Social Theory, New School for Social Research
• Mark R. Beissinger, Henry W. Putnam Professor of Politics, Princeton University
• Zsuzsa Berend, Department of Sociology, UCLA
• Sheri Berman, Professor of Political Science, Barnard College, Columbia University
• Nancy Bermeo, PIIRS Senior Scholar and Professor of Politics Emerita, Princeton University
• Michael Bernhard, Raymond and Miriam Ehrlich Chair, Department of Political Science, University of Florida
• Jack Bielasiak, Professor, Department of Political Science, Indiana University
• Gavril Bilev, Assistant Professor of Political Science, Merrimack College
• Frank Biess, Professor of History, University of California-San Diego
• Melissa Bokovoy, Chair and Professor of History, University of New Mexico
• Cristina Bradatan, Associate professor of Sociology, Texas Tech University
• David L. Brown, International Professor of Development Sociology, Cornell University
• Chad Bryant, Associate Professor of History, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
• Rogers Brubaker, Professor of Sociology and UCLA Foundation Chair, University of California, Los Angeles
• Yitzhak M. Brudny, Jay and Leonie Darwin Chair in Soviet and Eastern European Studies, Hebrew University of Jerusalem
• Valerie Jane Bunce, Aaron Binenkorb Professor of International Studies and Professor of Government at Cornell University
• Michael Burawoy, Professor of Sociology, University of California Berkeley
• Lenka Bustikova, Assistant Professor of Political Science, School of Politics and Global Studies, Arizona State University
• Holly Case, Associate Professor of History, Brown University
• Nitsan Chorev, Harmon Family Professor of Sociology and International and Public Affairs. Brown University
• Daniel Czitrom, Professor of History, Mount Holyoke College
• Thomas J. Csordas, Professor and Chair, Department of Anthropology, Dr. James Y. Chan Presidential Chair in Global Health, University of California, San Diego
• Jane Leftwich Curry, Professor of Political Science, Santa Clara University
• Istvan Deak, Seth Low Professor Emeritus of History, Columbia University
• Kevin Deegan-Krause, Associate Professor of Political Science, Wayne State University
• Grzegorz Ekiert, Laurence A. Tisch Professor of Government and Director Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, Harvard University
• Gil Eyal, Professor and Chair, Department of Sociology, Columbia University
• Barbara J Falk, Associate Professor, Canadian Forces College
• Melissa Feinberg, Associate Professor of History, Rutgers University
• Carole Fink, Humanities Distinguished Professor of History Emerita, The Ohio State University
• Evgeny Finkel, Assistant Professor of Political Science and International Affairs, George Washington University
• Benjamin Frommer, Associate Professor of History, Northwestern University
• Timothy Frye, Chair, Department of Political Science, Marshall Shulman Professor of Post-Soviet Politics, Columbia University
• Venelin I. Ganev, Professor of Political Science, Miami University of Ohio
• Eagle Glassheim, Associate Professor of History, University of British Columbia
• Jeffrey C. Goldfarb, Michael E. Gellert Professor of Sociology, New School for Social Research
• Paul Goode, Senior Lecturer in Russian Politics, University of Bath
• Emily Greble, Associate Professor of History and East European Studies, Vanderbilt University
• Anna Grzymala-Busse, President of the Association for Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies, Michelle and Kevin Douglas Professor of International Studies, Stanford University
• Henry E. Hale, Professor of Political Science and International Affairs, George Washington University
• Paul Hanebrink, Associate Professor of History, Rutgers University
• S. Mohsin Hashim, Professor of Political Science, Director, Dana Honors Program, Muhlenberg College
• Robert M. Hayden, Professor of Anthropology and Law, University of Pittsburgh
• Marc M. Howard, Professor of Government and Law, Georgetown University
• Aida Hozic, Associate Professor of Political Science, University of Florida
• Jeffrey C. Isaac, James H. Rudy Professor of Political Science, Indiana University
• John Ishiyama, University Distinguished Professor, University of North Texas
• Wade Jacoby, Mary Lou Fulton Professor of Political Science, Brigham Young University
• Krzysztof Jasiewicz, Ames Professor in Sociology and Anthropology, Washington and Lee University, Co-Editor, East European Politics and Societies
• Alison Frank Johnson, Professor of History, Harvard University
• Juliet Johnson, Professor of Political Science, McGill University
• Ekrem Karakoc, Associate Professor of Political Science, Binghamton University
• Peter J. Katzenstein, Walter S. Carpenter, Jr. Professor of International Studies Cornell University
• Rüçhan Kaya, Visiting Assistant Professor of Political Science, Texas A&M University
• R. Daniel Kelemen, Professor of Political Science, Rutgers University
• Michael D. Kennedy, Professor of Sociology and International and Public Affairs, Brown University
• Padraic Kenney, Chair, Department of International Studies, Professor of History and International Studies, Indiana University
• Jeremy King, Professor of History, Mount Holyoke college
• Herbert Kitschelt, George V. Allen Professor of International Relations, Department of Political Science, Duke University
• Rebekah Klein-Pejšová, Associate Professor of History, Purdue University
• Jeffrey Kopstein, Professor of Political Science, University of California, Irvine
• Petia Kostadinova, Assistant Professor of Political Science,University of Illinois, Chicago
• Markus Kreuzer, Professor of Political Science, Villanova University
• Jan Kubik, Director, School of Slavonic and East European Studies, University College London
• Anita Kurimay, Assistant Professor of History, Bryn Mawr College
• Mark Kramer, Director of Cold War Studies, Harvard University
• Amie Kreppel, Associate Professor of Political Science, University of Florida
• Elena Krumova, Lecturer, Quantitative Methods in the Social Sciences, Columbia University
• Dragan Kujundzic, Professor, Center for Jewish Studies, University of Florida
• Martha Lampland, Professor of Sociology and Science Studies, University of California, San Diego
• Katherine Lebow, Associate Professor of History, Christ Church, Oxford University
• Anthony Levitas, Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs, Brown University
• Isabela Mares, Professor of Political Science, Columbia University
• Kyle L. Marquardt, Postdoctoral research fellow, V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg
• Michael McFaul, Director, Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies; Senior Fellow, Hoover Institution, Professor, Department of Political Science, Stanford University
• Kelly McMann, Associate Professor of Political Science, Case Western Reserve University
• John S. Micgiel, Visiting Professor, East European Studies Center, University of Warsaw
• Bryon Moraski, Associate Professor of Political Science, University of Florida
• Alexander Motyl, Professor of Political Science, Rutgers University-Newark
• Cas Mudde, Associate Professor, School of Public and International Affairs (SPIA), University of Georgia, Co-editor, European Journal of Political Research
• Harris Mylonas, Associate Professor of Political Science and International Affairs, George Washington University
• Norman Naimark, McDonnell Professor of East European Studies, Stanford University
• Conor O'Dwyer, Associate Professor of Political Science and European Studies, University of Florida
• Mitchell A Orenstein, Professor, Russian and East European Studies and Chair, Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures
• David Ost, 2010-2105 Joseph DiGangi Professor of Political Science, Hobart and William Smith Colleges
• Cynthia Paces, Professor of History, The College of New Jersey
• Susan C. Pearce, Associate Professor of Sociology, East Carolina University
• Antony Polonsky, Emeritus Professor of Holocaust Studies, Brandeis University.
• Grigore Pop-Eleches, Professor of Politics and International Affairs, Woodrow Wilson School, Princeton University
• Graeme Robertson, Professor, Department of Political Science, University of North Carolina
• Akos Rona-Tas, Professor and Chair of Sociology, University of California, San Diego
• Marsha Rozenblit, Harvey M. Meyerhoff Professor of Jewish History, University of Maryland
• Peter Rutland, Professor of Government, Wesleyan University
• Daniel Schlafly, Professor of History, Director, Russian and East European Area Studies Program, Saint Louis University
• Philippe Schmitter, Professor of Political Science Emeritus, European University Institute and Stanford University
• Edward Schatz, Associate Professor and Department Chair, University of Toronto, Mississauga
• Richard Scher, Professor of Political Science Emeritus, University of Florida
• Marci Shore, Associate Professor of History, Yale University
• David Stark, Arthur Lehman Professor of Sociology, Columbia University
• Anna Seleny, Professor of the Practice of International Politics, The Fletcher School, Tufts University
• Regina Smyth, Associate Professor of Political Science, Indiana University
• Hillel David Soifer, Associate Professor of Political Science, Temple University
• Jelena Subotic, Associate Professor of Political Science, Georgia State University
• Milan Svolik, Associate Professor of Political Science, Yale University
• Anna Szemere, Independent Scholar and Educator
• Vera Tabakova, Associate Professor of Economics, East Carolina University
• Sidney Tarrow, Maxwell Upson Professor of Government Emeritus, Cornell University
• Joshua Tucker, Professor of Politics and Director, Jordan Center for the Advanced Study of Russia, New York University
• Hubert Tworzecki, Associate Professor of Political Science, Emory University
• Daniel Unowsky, Professor of History, University of Memphis
• Milada Anna Vachudova, Jean Monnet Chair in EU Studies and Associate Professor of Political Science, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
• Lucan Way, Professor of Political Science, University of Toronto
• Catherine Wanner, Professor of History and Anthropology, Penn State University
• Steven Lloyd Wilson, Research Fellow, Varieties of Democracy Institute, University of Gothenburg
• Nancy M. Wingfield, Presidential Research Professor, Northern Illinois University
• Sharon L. Wolchik, Professor of Political Science and International Affairs, The George Washington University
• Susan L. Woodward, Professor of Political Science, The Graduate Center of the City University of New York