Central European University

"Discrimination works like a poison," she says, alluding to her own experiences as a teacher in Hungary, when she was struck by the racist and sexist remarks directed to Roma or half-black students by fellow classmates.

"It was a real challenge learning how to handle it," the energetic forty-something woman admits.

Exported across Europe, Romanian caviar was as legendary as it was expensive. In 1960s Britain, it was known as 'millionaires' food', fetching more than £16 per lb and helping to prop up Romania's shaky finances. "The state took everything back then," Ivanov said.

Their choice of meeting place was significant: the campus of the Central European University founded by US-Hungarian financier George Soros. The university is at odds with the government and is in the process of being ousted from Hungary.

Experts on the Western Balkans, as well as international law and civil society figures, took to social media to voice their concerns on Tuesday after the new European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, announced Hungary's Laszlo Trocsanyi as her proposed Commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Policy.

The academics, however, say it is simply the latest move in a Fidesz strategy to rein in Hungary's intellectuals and stifle free, particularly critical, thought.

The battle over the academy began a year ago, and is nearing its denouement.

A Hungarian magazine published more than 200 names of people it claims are likely part of a group that Prime Minister Viktor Orban calls "mercenaries" paid by US-Hungarian billionaire philanthropist George Soros to topple the government.

The European Commission today launched the second step of a procedure against Hungary related to the local law on higher education, BNT reported.

The law violates EU law and international law, and Hungary has one month to accept the necessary amendments, a commission statement said.

The war of words between George Soros and Hungarian PM Viktor Orban is threatening to boil over after the billionaire philanthropist claimed Hungary is a 'mafia state' posing as a democracy.

Thousands of protesters marched through Budapest on May 21 in a demonstration against tough laws targeting foreign-backed NGOs and higher education institutions, amid rising tensions between Budapest and Brussels.

Hungarian President Janos Ader on Monday approved a controversial law seen as targeting the respected Central European University founded by US billionaire George Soros, despite protests at home and abroad. The signing of the higher education legislation, the final legal hurdle before it passes into law, came after the largest street demonstration in Hungary in recent years, AFP reported.