Steven N.
Dr. Krisztina Bényi Bertáné has been nominated as the newly-created director of the Foundation for Fudan University Hungary and will serve alongside Innovation and Technology Minister László Palkovics, who will remain as president of the curitorium overseeing higher educations institutions in Hungary.
According to legal documents acquired by HVG, the new director and Minister Palkovics will not work together, but will operate independently in their own spheres of authority.
Dr. Bényi Bertáné has no work experience in higher education, but was previously employed at the Csongrád County Health Insurance Fund and a country government office before starting work in the Office of the Prime Minister in 2015. She became a deputy state secretary and was responsible for coordinating the development of the Modern Cities and Villages program between 2018 and 2020.
The government previously promised a referendum on the mega investment project for a campus of China’s Fudan University to be constructed in Budapest by Chinese and financed by Chinese loans. Budapest Mayor Gergely Karácsony requested a referendum on the matter himself, of which the government has not decided on. However, Krisztina Baranyi, mayor of proposed Fudan location Ferencváros, announced at the end of September that her district would attempt to block construction of the Chinese university.
[HVG]
