Soros reopens Central European University in Vienna
Billionaire George Soros opened the new main campus of his Central European University or CEU in Vienna on Friday after the university had been expelled from Hungary by Viktor Orban. The conservative Hungarian Prime Minister had earlier made it clear that CEU did not comply with Hungarian law on education and, as a result, would be forced to leave the country.
CEU’s decision last year to move the bulk of its courses out of Hungary came following a long struggle between Hungarian-born George Soros, who promotes pro-migration policies through his Open Society Foundation as well as numerous other NGOs ,and Viktor Orban’s anti mass-immigration government.
”CEU has steadfastly defended the principle of academic freedom against a concentrated attack by the corrupt government of Viktor Orban, who was hell-bent to destroy it. CEU’s epic struggle against the repressive regime generated worldwide support. That struggle is still ongoing”- says George Soros.
Founded by Soros in 1991, CEU has been a gateway to the West for thousands of students from eastern Europe, offering U.S.-accredited graduate degree programmes, promoting progressive values. However, Hungary’s ruling Fidesz party changed the law in 2017 to ban foreign-registered universities that do not also offer courses in their home country. The decision led to some courses provided by the university being banished from the state’s capital. The university has moved its U.S.-accredited courses to Vienna. It has maintained some presence in Budapest, which Soros said was in recognition of the support shown by other academics.
Decision of The European Court of Justice in Luxembourg
The European Court of Justice in Luxembourg decided yesterday that it is the Polish Supreme Court which should investigate the independence of the Disciplinary Board of the Supreme Court. In particular, according to the European Court, the Supreme Court should decide whether the board should have the authority to decide on the retirement of judges. If the Supreme Court rules that the board is biased, it will be able to stop sending matters concerning the retirement of judges to it.
Today’s ruling of the European Court of Justice revolves around one of the most crucial components of the Law and Justice Party’s judicial reform.
“It’s the Polish Supreme Court which should investigate the independence of the Disciplinary Board of the Supreme Court and whether it can deliver verdicts on the arguments regarding the retirement of judges. If the Supreme Court rules that the board is biased, it will be allowed to stop sending matters of retirement of justices to it.”- CJEU ruling.
According to the opposition, this type of ruling was to be expected.
“It’s a good thing, that the Court of Justice gave a ruling which allows the Supreme Court to assess the matters of the National Council of the Judiciary and the Disciplinary Board” – says Tomasz Grodzki, Marshall of The Senate, The Civic Platform party.
“We never had any doubts, that the way the judges of the National Council of the Judiciary were chosen was unconstitutional. It violated the most basic rule of the independence of the judiciary from politicians. I have only one question then – how quickly and how efficiently is the Polish government going to implement this ruling?”- says Katarzyna Lubnauer,Deputy leader of The Civic Coalition Club.
However, the Law and Justice Party senator, Wojciech Skurkiewicz, believes the opposition expected a much harsher critique of the ruling party’s judicial reform.
“It turns out it’s not that bad at all, I’d argue it’s a soft verdict. It says, that Poland has the right to reform its judiciary”- Wojciech Skurkiewicz ,The Law and Justice party Senator.
The ruling of the European Court of Justice came in response to the preliminary question asked by the Polish Supreme Court regarding the status of the National Council of the Judiciary and the Disciplinary Board.
Normality, family, prosperity
Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki delivered his expose in the Sejm yesterday. In an 80-minute speech, the prime minister set out the government’s priorities for the new term. He mentioned, among others, defending the family and children against the effects of the cultural war, building a prosperous state, as well as creating a demographic strategy for Poland.
”Poles gave the Law and Justice party the mandate to build the Polish state of prosperity. A modern and safe statehood. The state of which each of us would proudly say: Poland is my home. Poles gave us that mandate in the recent elections, which had the highest turnout in the last 30 years, and they gave the Law and Justice Party a record-high number of votes. The goal of the goals is to build Poland as the best country in which to live in Europe. Poland with peaceful everyday life, Poland safe in her borders. This is the dream of millions of Poles.
Our program is based on the culture which builds our national identity. It is built on the family and marriage, as described in our constitution. Those are the constitutional values we believe in. The family is, and must remain, the foundation of our society. I know that the family is treated by some as the story of the past. The more the talk about new family models the more it becomes obvious that they are talking about experimental issues with minorities in society and new experimental solutions. We do not agree that exceptions should pretend to define the new norm. We believe that the future of our children should be built on the solid foundation of the family”- says Mateusz Mazowiecki, Prime Minister of Poland.
What the Prime Minister will say
Today Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki is to deliver an expose of his government in the Sejm. Afterwards, speeches of individual parliamentary clubs are planned, and in the evening voting on the vote of confidence for the new cabinet of Prime Minister Morawiecki will take place.
The opposition wants to hear concrete facts about the state of the ministry of finance and the country’s budget, as well as the Prime Minister’s ideas for resolving the most pressing issues, for example the functioning of the healthcare system and the retirement pensions system. In tomorrow’s speech, prime minister Morawiecki is allegedly going to focus on economic matters, namely investments in infrastructure, for example the Central Transport Hub and the new ring roads in most of Poland’s major cities.
“I remember prime minister Morawiecki’s expose from two years ago, when he first held the office, and I can tell you, that he hasn’t fulfilled any of the promises he made back then. Now, he has extended time to fulfil them and we will see if he addresses them at all or proposes new solutions”- says Jan Grabiec, spokesman for the Civic Platform Party.
“The opposition made a poor judgement of the promises we made, because not only have we fulfilled them, we’ve done more than we aimed for. We are a reliable government, and it was represented by the unprecedented trust of the voters, who gave us 43% of the votes to the parliament”- says Jan Maria Jackowski, Law and Justice Party Senator.