Lessons from Hungary: Academic Freedom and Democracy

Join the Human Rights Center for a conversation with guest expert Eszter Kirs, who will speak about academic freedom and democracy, drawing from experiences and examples from Hungary. 

In Hungary's electoral autocracy, academic autonomy has been a major concern since 2014. After introducing the chancellor system, targeting the Central European University, and cancelling the accreditation of gender studies, in 2019-21, almost all universities were transformed from state-maintained institutions into private institutions managed by public-interest trusts packed with government-friendly political and economic stakeholders. In this context, student protests functioned as a canary-in-the-coalmine indicator, signaling civil society’s ability to face and resist tendencies toward autocratization. These protest movements, including the FreeSZFE, carry important lessons about autonomous, non-bureaucratic, free civic communities that nurture a democratic political culture despite the shrinking space of civil society.

About the speaker 

Eszter Kirs is an associate professor of the Department of International Relations at the Corvinus University of Budapest. Her research is focused on protest movements and human rights in illiberal political systems. She has been lecturing on international law and human rights at various academic institutions. She was a legal officer of the Hungarian Helsinki Committee in 2013-2021. From 2010 to 2015, she worked for a defense team at the ICTY. She was a Fulbright visiting researcher at the Columbia Law School in 2009-2010 and a visiting lecturer at the University of Minnesota Law School in 2019. She is the author of two monographs and academic papers on transitional justice, international criminal law and human rights, including her recent publications "Framing of Hungarian Youth Resistance Movements by Pro-Government Media under the Illiberal Orbán Governments" (Journal of Illiberalism Studies, 2024), "Historical reflection as a source of inspiration for youth resistance in illiberal regimes - a qualitative study of the FreeSZFE movement in Hungary" (Journal of Youth Studies, 2025) and Political self-restraint of civil society movements in communism and the electoral autocracy of Hungary (European Politics and Society, 2026).