Fidesz's parliamentary group leader has said there are people in the Venice Commission who are sponsored by Hungarian-born American financier George Soros.
Lajos Kósa made the remarks following the Venice Commission's opinion on Hungary’s higher education act. The commission said overall it was in line with existing European norms, but its amended version tightening rules on foreign universities already present in the country contain some “highly problematic” requirements.
Lajos Kósa said these people do what Soros says and must search for legal explanations, during an interview with Kossuth Radio over the weekend.
Kósa said it was “absurd” that the European Commission believes the Central European University does not have to comply with Hungary’s law on higher education.
“Laws apply to everybody, even to George Soros,” he added. Regulating higher education falls within the scope of power of the state in Hungary, he said. He added that everybody had taken the amended law on higher education seriously, and that agreements had already been reached with other American institutions of higher education operating in Hungary.
Kósa said Fidesz would not participate in an extraordinary session of parliament initiated by the opposition to amend the law on higher education.