10 Days That Changed My World
By ADRIEN BEAUDUIN, November 2018
Photo credits: Sunna Kokkonen
When the decision to move was announced on October 25th, I had mixed feelings. On the one hand, I appreciated CEU’s move to put the pressure on the Hungarian government by giving it a December 1st ultimatum instead of waiting like sitting ducks. On the other hand, I knew that this strategy also enabled the government to pretend that CEU was not actually kicked out of the country, but rather left of its own accord. Ultimately, I was disappointed that CEU would not use its resources and name to stay and fight until the very end, but I thought that it was nevertheless better to go along with the strategy and put pressure on Orbán until December 1st.
While I appreciated the fact that some Hungarian opposition political parties reacted instantly by organising some demonstrations, I was also wary that those parties would hijack our issue and use it for their own gains. Moreover, considering the way the opposition in Hungary has been rather ineffective and divided, I knew that many people would not mobilise under their banner. At the first demonstration on Friday, October 26th, the turn-out rather confirmed my doubts, with barely enough people to fill a section of Zrinyi street.
As a reaction to political parties seizing the issue for themselves, a number of students launched the idea of organising. With little time left to mobilise and act, it was exhilarating to meet so many motivated people at the first meeting on the following Tuesday. Assembling on principles of horizontal organising and democratic decision-making, the “Students4CEU” group agreed that mobilisation would have to be about more than just CEU in order to build a coalition with other Hungarian universities and institutions. Indeed, while the government tries to shut down CEU, it is also banning study programmes like Gender Studies, censoring research at the Academy of Sciences, cutting funds at ELTE and planning to privatise Corvinus University.
The next days were filled with tiring meetings with long debates to establish the basic principles of the group and establish a structure that would be as non-hierarchical as possible while keeping its flexibility and its efficiency. Tensions sometimes arose as different approaches and backgrounds clashed, but it has been highly motivating to see that a core group of 40-50 people has kept up the work and already done so much. Moreover, support from other students has been very encouraging.
In less than 10 days, the group has already has managed to launch a video appeal and petition addressed at Orbán’s European political allies, it showed its presence at the November 7th demonstration, and it has announced – and started to organise – a demonstration for November 24th. Despite being all overloaded with schoolwork and working with tight deadlines, the students have shown such determination that it can now be said without doubt that the December 1st deadline might only be the beginning.
Indeed, there is now a wider movement rising, with the ELTE Gender Studies students going on strike on November 14th, with the November 16th demonstration by Momentum, with smaller actions prepared for the upcoming week, and finally with the massive November 24th demonstration. Join us on Facebook at Students4CEU and join the struggle. CEU might give up, but its students will not go down without a fight!
