Karacsony vows to hold firm on 9th district student quarter project

Citing a joint statement by 12 economists containing arguments against the establishment of the Fudan University campus, Karacsony said the university would hurt the Hungarian economy because it would be financed from a loan from China with unfavourable terms.

The institution, he said, would also be bad for Budapest and specifically the 9th district because it would take space away from the planned student quarter. It would also hurt Hungary’s higher education sector “by leading to unacceptably large wage gaps and devaluing Hungarian universities”, the mayor argued. Also, it would deprive Hungarian students of affordable housing, he said, adding that the university’s tuition fees would be unaffordable for “99 percent of them”.

Karacsony said Fudan Hungary University would be “bad for anyone who doesn’t want their tax forints to serve the Chinese Communist Party’s influence”.

“This project benefits China because it serves its own economic, political and covert interests,” Karacsony said. He added that the project could also benefit those linked to ruling Fidesz “who will no doubt get a little something out of the Chinese revenues”.