Hungary’s Pannónia Programme better than Erasmus with more than 3,000 applicants, says Orbán cabinet

Balázs Hankó praised the Hungarian Pannónia student exchange programme which substitutes the Erasmus programme for Hungarian foundation universities that have been excluded from Erasmus by the European Commission. He said the Pannónia Programme allows students to join courses in the world’s top universities and gives higher scholarships. Thus, it is not surprising that the number of applicants increased significantly compared to the Erasmus Programme.

“Hungary’s Pannónia Programme is better than the Erasmus”

According to 444.hu, Balázs Hankó, Hungary’s culture and innovation minister, praised the Orbán cabinet’s new Pannónia student exchange programme and compared it to the EU’s Erasmus programme. He said the government’s initiative is better and more popular than the EU’s.

The Pannónia Programme is available for students studying at foundation-run universities in Hungary. Such higher education institutions were excluded from the Erasmus programme due to rule of law problems. The European Commission believes the Hungarian government maintained control over the leadership of the foundation-run universities, which harms academic freedom. Brussels discussed the issue in December and did not change its decision about the exclusion.

Since the European Commission and the Hungarian government could not settle the controversies, students of 21 foundation-run universities can no longer apply to the Erasmus programme. The same goes for their lecturers, who cannot participate in the Horizon programme.