The ministry of culture and innovation has confirmed that the European Union’s Erasmus+ programs can continue undisturbed in Hungary this year.
The ministry said in a statement that a European Commission decision made in December concerning public interest asset management foundations carrying out public duties does not affect exchange programs. The government will continue coordinating until the March deadline in order to ensure continued undisturbed access to resources affecting higher education, it added. Ongoing exchange programs and those to be announced this year for higher education students and teachers are not affected by the EC decision, the ministry said. “Hungary has fulfilled all its commitments and therefore refuses to accept the European Commission’s discriminative decision to exclude public interest asset management foundations carrying out public duties and the universities they manage from direct EU tenders,” the statement said. “This will be clarified, similarly to the issue of other EU resources, by March 16, 2023,” the ministry added. The statement was issued after a press report suggesting that universities run by public interest asset management foundations will not receive fresh funding as part of the EU’s Erasmus program — under which students from Hungary can study abroad.