One of Europe’s premier academic institutions is under attack by one of Europe’s least democratic states. Budapest-based Central European University (CEU) is threatened with closure by legislation proposed by the Hungarian government. This is not just a regulatory spat between Hungary’s administration and academia. It is an ideologically motivated show trial. It has been launched by Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, the self-professed leader of illiberalism and nativism. It is directed against CEU because the university stands for freedom of thought, liberal values, and internationalism. It is yet another test of the democratic mettle of the West, struggling as it is to fend off closure and autocracy.