Science: Hungarian academy president vows to keep fighting for independence as government takes control

Today, Hungary’s parliament approved an amendment that makes it legally possible to transfer a large part of the budget of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences (MTA) in Budapest to the country’s newly established Ministry of Innovation and Technology (MIT). The vote is the first step in a process that may bring almost €88 million of MTS’s €124 million annual budget under direct control of MIT; the next step is a parliamentary vote on the science budget itself on Friday. The government’s proposal is widely expected to pass.