USASpending.gov reveals: a Hungarian university has received an $800K grant from the US Department of Defense

The United States Department of Defense has supported Pázmány Péter Catholic University with 300 million forints over the past 10 years, USASpending.gov said.

Pázmány Péter Catholic University has received the most financial support from overseas, according to the official site that tracks US government spending, USAspendig.gov. Since 2010, US taxpayers have given the campus a total of $766,990, or more than 300 million forints at today’s exchange rates. According to the Magyar Hang, the grants were given exclusively by the Department of Defense, which is responsible for the operation of the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force and Space Force. According to the government website, Pázmány Péter Catholic University has been receiving regular funding from the US Department of Defense since 2010, with $120,000 in the first year and $183,594,000 in 2021, the last year of the last grant so far. The title under which they receive the grant is “to support and encourage basic and applied research and technologies at educational, non-profit and other research institutions that have outstanding potential for improving naval operations, and to train and motivate future researchers in scientific and engineering disciplines”. Pázmány’s latest US-funded research ended on 24 April 2023, Magyar Hang says.

The news is particularly interesting because the Hungarian government’s rhetoric attacks the opposition for what it calls “rolling dollars” in US funding, even though it appears that the biggest domestic beneficiary of this form of financing has been an institution of higher education in Hungary. One thing is for sure, Hungary’s 6th largest university has grown with this support, and the institution’s leadership has welcomed the American support.

As we wrote today: Hungary to consider withdrawing from the WHO and UNESCO: Will it follow the example of the USA?

We also published an article which says negotiations are already in the final stages: direct flights between Budapest and New York could be back this year, details HERE