The Hungarian Minister of Education, Judit Lannert, recently announced via social media the return of the Erasmus program to Hungarian universities, which is an academic exchange program supervised by the European Commission.
The governing official highlighted that the changes implemented by the current government since May 9th were completed by the end of August, allowing universities to resume participation in the program during the 2026/27 academic year.
Previously, in December 2022, the European Union had suspended the participation of 21 Hungarian institutions in the Erasmus and Horizon programs. This suspension occurred following reforms promoted by the Orbán government, which served as Prime Minister between 2010 and 2026, the year it was surpassed by Magyar in the elections.
In April 2021, Hungary introduced so-called 'public interest foundations' to manage universities. The European Union considered these structures incompatible with its guidelines due to the presence of political figures linked to the government.
Only universities that refused this new model, even under state pressure, managed to remain in European programs, including the renowned Eötvös Loránd University located in Budapest.
After the veto, Orbán's right-wing populist government replaced Erasmus with its own program, called Panonia, which had a narrower scope compared to the European program.
Consequently, following the April election victory, the parliamentary majority of Tisza, a conservative right-wing party led by Magyar, approved various reforms that determined the closure of the foundations managing the universities.
At the end of May, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, together with Magyar, announced that Erasmus would be reinstated for all Hungarian universities.
Judit Lannert informed that students from Hungarian universities can already submit applications to the Erasmus program, although several Hungarian media outlets point out that the institutions will first need to re-establish their international academic connections.