B... as in Budapest

General view of the ESSCA building on the banks of the Danube

TheIron Curtain cracked in autumn 1989: a month earlier, Hungary had already opened its border with Austria, allowing East Germans to join West Germany for the first time since 1961; in a week's time, the Magyars would proclaim the abolition of the People's Republic, and three weeks later, the Berlin Wall would fall.

It was against this exceptional and unprecedented backdrop that the École opened its first specialized Master's program on October 16, 1989. Its title: Specialized Master in East-West Exchanges.

Unique in Europe, its aim was to train high-level executives specializing in trade between the blocs, with the participation of 24 foreign universities, including Moscow, Prague, Warsaw and Budapest.

This Master's degree will be the first "troisième cycle" on this theme to be accredited by the Conférence desGrandes Écoles.