#IstandwithCEU

The Croatian National Committee for Historical Sciences expresses solidarity with the Central European University and endorses open letter of support written by CEU students, alumni and professors from Croatia.

In twenty-five years, the CEU has gained global reputation for teaching and research in social sciences and humanities - it excels in international rankings and is highly efficient in winning highly competitive European Research Council grants. Since the 1990s it had an indisputably positive impact on Croatian historiography. Due to the CEU, numerous Croatian students and historians, politically situated alongside the entire spectrum, could attend high-quality postgraduate studies, often aided by scholarships that were not available elsewhere in the region.

They had at their disposal excellent facilities, like the famous CEU Library, or the Open Society Archives. They could use Hungarian archives and libraries, indispensable for the research of Croatian history. They could attend rich array of lectures given by globally famous historians and they could participate in seminars led by the teaching staff from all over the world. Finally, they could gain unprecedented access to international projects and grants, not available in Croatia, especially in the early 1990s. The CEU experience enriched their studies, helped them to create regional and global professional networks and enabled them to promote new theoretical and methodological approaches in Croatia. Croatian historiography highly benefited and still benefits from their experience and knowledge.

Therefore, the Committee fully supports CEU students, alumni and professors from Croatia and urges the Hungarian government to enter consultation with the CEU, to the benefit of academic freedom and academic excellence in the region.

Prof. Damir Agičić

president of the Croatian National Committee for Historical Sciences