BY HANK REICHMAN
In December I posted “Another Assault on Scholarship in Hungary,” reporting that László Lovász, President of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences had informed an emergency assembly of the Academy about a move by the government to drastically cut the institution’s funding. As I reported, “Innovation Minister László Palkovics had explained why he was unhappy with the Academy. He complained that it was involving itself in “unworthy” matters (i.e., political discourse) and that members ought not be ‘burdened’ by such things. President Lovász shared with the members Palkovics’s belief that further funding is also unwarranted because the Academy’s research network does no real work.”
On February 12, the Academy’s Presidium adopted a resolution calling on the minister to “provide the research institutions of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences with their basic state funding that is guaranteed by law.” On February 15, the All European Academies (ALLEA), founded in 1994 and federating Academies of Sciences and Humanities from more than 40 countries in the Council of Europe region, released the following statement on the situation.
ALLEA reinforces its calls to protect the institutional autonomy and academic
freedom of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences
The Hungarian Academy of Sciences has been a valued member of ALLEA ever since its foundation in 1994. Due to the autonomy of the institution, the excellence of its researchers and the quality of its research outputs the Hungarian Academy enjoys widespread trust among the Hungarian population and within the European and global scientific community.
In response to the latest actions taken by the Hungarian Ministry for Innovation and Technology concerning the allocation of funding to the research institutes of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, ALLEA recalls its positions expressed in a previous statement and an open letter, specifically that through its recurring and unfounded interventions the Hungarian government:
• compromises the institutional autonomy of the Hungarian Academy;
• infringes on internationally applied and accepted principles of academic freedom, scientific excellence and the self-governance of scientific institutions;
• undermines the traditionally excellent and internationally renowned Hungarian science base, and threatens its leading and pioneering role in the region;
• politicises scientific research and jeopardises Hungary’s strong European and international partnerships in science;
• threatens to create a structure that will diminish the quality and scope of scientific output of Hungary, particularly but not restricted to the research conducted within the humanities.
ALLEA reinforces its calls upon the Hungarian government to uphold and guarantee the autonomy of academic organisations and institutions as guaranteed in Article X of the Fundamental Law of Hungary, in order for the scientific community of Hungary to fulfil its tasks and mandates, and to contribute to the country’s social and economic well–being, and development. ALLEA agrees with the Hungarian Academy of Sciences that the proposed reorganisation of the academy structure would gravely endanger the future funding of all scientific disciplines, and it may particularly threaten research in the humanities.
ALLEA therefore supports the resolution adopted by the Presidium of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences on 12 February 2019 that the Hungarian government should make available the basic state funding, which is due by law, to the academy. ALLEA also agrees with the continued need for thorough negotiations and consultation concerning the future structure of the research institutions within the Hungarian Academy of Sciences.
ALLEA expresses its solidarity and calls for support of all researchers and staff affiliated with the Hungarian academy.
