Budapest [Hungary], May 29 (ANI): The Hungarian political opposition has pledged to block the construction of the first Chinese university in the European Union (EU) due to the financial and security risks of the project.

According to the government, the project will raise the level of education and provide students with globally competitive knowledge, Al Jazeera reported.

However, the country’s opposition is not convinced. Budapest mayor Gergely Karacsony, who hopes to run as the opposition candidate for prime minister in next year’s elections, has vowed to use “all possible legal and political means” to end the project right-wing government to build a campus for Fudan University in the capital.

Fudan University is a Shanghai-based institution, which ranks among the top 200 universities in the world. It is expected to be launched in Hungary by 2024.

Under the plan, up to 8,000 students will live and learn in a sprawling facility on the banks of the Danube.

Hungary will pay the full 1.5 billion euros ($ 1.8 billion) bill for the campus construction, fueled by a huge loan from Beijing.

It also raised concerns about Hungary’s growing dependence on China, which has been accused of using debt trap diplomacy to strengthen its influence over other countries.

China has sought to use its enormous fiscal firepower in an attempt to gain influence in Central and Eastern Europe in an attempt to bolster its interests in the EU and the Treaty Organization. North Atlantic (NATO).

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has sought to strengthen Hungary’s ties with the east as the country continues to take money.

Critics note that Hungary will not accept loans under the EU Stimulus Fund, and say this shows that Orban prefers financing with few conditions.

Hungary has consistently backed Chinese interests as tensions escalated between Beijing and these Western institutions.

Hungary ignored US warnings that Huawei posed a security risk, to give the company a leading role in building its 5G networks.

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On May 10, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas severely berated Orban, after Budapest blocked EU measures against China’s tightening of control over Hong Kong.

“This is not the first time that Hungary has broken unity over the issue of China,” Maas told reporters. “I think everyone can find the reasons for themselves.”

Michael Ignatieff is president of the Central European University, an American institution expelled from Budapest in 2018.

He calls Fudan’s arrival “another blow to academic freedom”, suggesting that the university will not offer courses criticizing the Chinese or Hungarian governments. (ANI)