Orban, 53, personally received a Soros grant in the 1980s to study abroad, but has long since accused the Hungarian-born 86-year-old of meddling in central and eastern Europe and seeking to undermine the continent by backing mass immigration.
Budapest: Hungary's combative Prime Minister Viktor Orban deepened his row with George Soros on Friday, saying a prestigious Budapest university founded by the US billionaire was breaking rules and cheating students.
Orban, 53, personally received a Soros grant in the 1980s to study abroad, but has long since accused the Hungarian-born 86-year-old of meddling in central and eastern Europe and seeking to undermine the continent by backing mass immigration.
"Cheating is cheating... It doesn't matter if you are a billionaire, you are not above the law," Orban said during an interview on public radio.
The right-wing Orban is also known as a leading opponent in the EU of immigration, calling it a threat to Europe's Christian identity.
The Central European University (CEU), set up in 1991 after the end of communism and part-funded by Soros, said in a statement that it "utterly rejects" Orban's allegations.
"We have been lawful partners in Hungarian higher education for 25 years and any statement to the contrary is false," the university said.
US 'concern'
Orban's anti-Soros quest intensified on Tuesday with the publication of proposed legislation that would tighten rules for foreign-based universities operating in Hungary.
The CEU believes it is the main target of Orban's plan -- something the government denies -- and has said that its existence is under threat.
Orban said Friday that the bill's aim was to stop universities based in countries outside of the European Union from being able to cheat students.
He said it came about after checks on 28 foreign institutions that uncovered irregularities.
"Several foreign universities are breaking the rules, including the Soros university," he said.
Orban argues that the New York State-registered CEU enjoys an unfair advantage over local universities because it can award both a Hungarian diploma and an American one.
The proposed new rules would ban the awarding of Hungarian diplomas without an agreement between national governments.
Institutions must also have operations in their home country.
The future of the CEU, which does not have a US campus, now "depends on talks between the governments of Hungary and the United States," Orban said.
A statement from the US State Department Friday expressed "concern" about the legislation which could go before parliament early next week.
"We urge the government of Hungary to avoid taking any legislative action that would compromise CEU's operations or independence," it said.
The Hungarian government in a statement said the State Department's letter was a "surprise" and was based on "factual errors".
'Attack on academic freedom'
Later Friday an open letter signed by 14 Nobel prize-winners among 150 academics sent to Hungary's minister in charge of education expressed "admiration" for CEU, and called for the bill's withdrawal.
"CEU's integration in and cooperation with other academic institutions in the region is fundamental to the success of Hungary," it said.
Currently teaching over 1,400 students from more than 100 countries, the English-language institution ranks among the top 50 universities in the world in political science and international studies.
In an interview with AFP on Thursday, the CEU's president and rector Michael Ignatieff called the proposed new rules "unacceptable, directly targeted at CEU, and an attack on academic freedom".
"We will be open for business and accept students next year, if I have to teach them in a tent in a park in Budapest I will do so," said the former Canadian politician, insisting that the university "will not be bullied".
"A campus in New York is out of the question, governments don't tell us where, what or who to teach, that's what academic freedom means," he added.
