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Putting Hungarian Academy of Sciences under state oversight unacceptable, says LMP
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The way and method in which the state wants to place the Hungarian Academy of Sciences (MTA) under its purview is unacceptable, Szabolcs Szabó, an MP of opposition green LMP, said at a press conference on Saturday.
The government wants to pass a budget act in which a big part of the Academy’s budget, some 28 billion forints (EUR 86.6m), is placed directly under government influence, Szabó said. The government wants to nationalise part of the Academy, which goes against the principle of freedom of scientific research, he added.
Szabó compared the earlier expulsion of Central European University (CEU) to book burning, and the “regulation” of MTA to burning down the library.
He noted a similar measure in 1949, in which two-thirds of the Academy’s members were expelled.
LMP will not support any budget or amendment to legislation that threatens the independence of the Academy, he said. LMP is on the side of the heads of the Academy who are asking the government to withdraw its proposals, he added.