Thousands rally in Budapest against government education law

Budapest (dpa) - About 10,000 people gathered in Budapest on Sunday to protest the government of Prime Minister Viktor Orban.They are angered by an education law passed last month that is seen as targetting the Central European University (CEU), founded by US billionaire George Soros in 1991.The bill‘s passage through Hungary‘s parliament sparked mass protests in the capital in April.The European Commission launched legal action against Hungary over the law, which the government says merely sets new standards for higher education.It aims to regulate foreign universities operating in Hungary by requiring them to be accredited and have a campus in their home country.CEU offers diplomas accepted both in the US and Hungary but only has a campus in Budapest and not in the US state of New York, where it is accredited.The university became the focal point of political debate as Orban has long accused Soros, who is of Hungarian origin, of interfering in the country‘s internal affairs and began cracking down on organizations connected to him.