03/12/2018 (Agence Europe) – Central European University (CEU) confirmed on Monday 3 December the termination of part of its activities on its Budapest campus, including the exemption of accredited courses in the United States, one arm which will now be taken in Vienna in September 2019. CEU had met the new Hungarian legislative criteria on foreign universities, but was nevertheless "kicked out" after the government refused to sign the authorisation to continue these programmes, its rector, Michael Ignatieff, deplored, referring to an "unprecedented" decision. The EPP leader in the European Parliament and the EPP's 'Spitzenkandidate', the German Manfred Weber, lamented this and asked that the Commission refer the matter to the EU Court of Justice for an accelerated procedure. The EPP had for a time made the continuation of these courses in Budapest a red line for Viktor Orbán. (SP)