39. Special - Michael Ignatieff and why the future of Europe is hanging in the balance

In this special edition of De Balie Podcast, Yoeri Albrecht (Director De Balie) speaks with the president of the Central European University (CEU) Michael Ignatieff. At the end of last year CEU decided to move its offices across the former Iron Curtain to Vienna. The position of the university became untenable after a long-running crackdown by Viktor Orban and the Hungarian authorities. What does this move of CEU say about democracy in Europe and the future of former Iron Curtain countries?

Ignatieff is one of the world's most renowned global thinkers, who last year published the instant bestseller 'The Ordinary Virtues'. Broadcasted live in De Balie in Amsterdam, Ignatieff speaks out about Europe and why it's future is hanging in the balance.

About the Central European University

After 25 years of operation in Budapest, Ignatieff announced in December 2018 CEU’s forced move to Vienna. The university, founded in 1991 by US-Hungarian philanthropist George Soros to encourage a free and open society, has been facing criticism since the first government of Viktor Orbán in 1998-2002. After a long fight with Orbán’s authorities the CEU decided to leave the country. It’s the first time ever, a university is forced out of a EU member state. Ignatieff called it ‘a dark day for freedom’.

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