A Self-Inflicted Wound In Hungary

Scott Malcomson wrote for the Huffington Post about a proposed bill that will give the Hungarian government more control over academic institutions:

In a globalized era, is self-determination necessarily self-destructive? Since 2010, the Hungarian government has seemed set on proving that it is. New legislation aims at further controlling academic institutions, in particular Central European University, that receive funding from outside Hungary. The bill could be voted on as early as this week. It would further harm education in a country whose school system is famously weak, and whose greatest economic need, arguably, is for more citizens who can perform complex, high-value-added jobs. Thousands marched through Budapest this weekend to protest the proposed bill. And yet, in its seventh year, the government of Viktor Orban and his Fidesz Party seems determined, in the name of nationalism, to further weaken the country.