Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said Hungary, as “the westernmost Eastern people and the easternmost Western people”, wants to connect to all of the world’s economic power centers.
“We’re making good progress on this, and this is something Hungarian universities will be big winners of,” the prime minister said at the inauguration of the renovated pavilion buildings of the University of Veterinary Medicine in Budapest on Tuesday.
PM Orbán said the world was on the verge of fundamental changes, arguing that the liberal world order had come to an end, and the winners of the new era would be those who fully realised their potential. But those who "fall in line" and "fail to recognise the strength in their national character", he added, would quickly fade into irrelevance.
He said Hungary was preparing to set its role on the international stage on new foundations.
“We don’t want to follow the path carved out by others, but rather to make use of the advantages that stem from our own history, our own economic structure and our own culture,” PM Orbán said.
The prime minister said Hungarian animal science was world-renowned, adding that the University of Veterinary Medicine offered “perhaps the highest-quality education” in the country. He said it was the institution that made the most scientific discoveries and was among the world’s top 150 universities, “of which all Hungarians can be justly proud”.
PM Orbán said the university aimed to become one of the world's top 50 such institutions, and the newly opened buildings and new research laboratories could help this plan succeed. Now the university has the proper background that will make it possible for students and researchers to perform above average also in terms of international publications and patent development, he added.
He said the developments at the University of Veterinary Medicine were part of the new era of Hungary's higher education system, with Hungarian universities aiming to belong to the global top tier. He cited the latest European Union figures showing that Hungary was spending the most on higher education in proportion to GDP in the whole of the EU.
He said Hungary has tripled spending on research and development in the past ten years. As a result, there are currently 12 Hungarian universities in the global top five percent as against seven universities five years ago, he added. The number of international students in Hungary has nearly doubled in the past ten years, he said.
PM Orbán said Hungary would not allow Brussels to penalise young Hungarians "because we protect our sovereignty". As a result the government has set up the Pannonia scholarship scheme, he added. "We do not have to rely on other people's money, but we on our own can also develop successful scientific cooperation with the best universities around the world," he said.
He said further buildings of the University of Veterinary Medicine were planned to be revamped in the future, adding that the hope was that the war would end in 2025, the European economy would return to its normal track, Hungary's economy would be set on a growth path, and this would enable the allocation of funds necessary to further develop the university.