PHOTOS: Hungary burns EU funds with tree-less canopy walkway, 1.5-metre-high lookout tower

If there are investments that are absolutely unnecessary and even scandalous, then these two in Hungary definitely are. The public could hear about the first one in March: the forest around a canopy walkway in Nyírmártonfalva has been completely demolished. All the trees had been cut out. Around a canopy walkway. And now, a lookout tower emerged on Hungary’s Great Plain (Alföld). How high can a lookout tower on a completely flat place be? It is actually 150 cm.

Canopy walkway without trees

The forest around a canopy walkway in Nyírmártonfalva has been completely cut down. The project was was realised with HUF 60 million EU funding, Átlátszó reported back in March.

The 50-metre-long promenade was designed to be at tree canopy level. However, instead of trees, there are now only pavilions, a playground and two half-finished toilets next to the lookout. According to Google Earth satellite imagery, the trees were still there in February 2022 and were harvested last summer. It was even indicated in the statement of the project in the Public Procurement Notice.

Átlátszó writes that Mihály Filemon, the Fidesz mayor of the village, won the money for the project as a private person. The walkway was placed on his land.

1.5-metre-high lookout tower

After the canopy walkway without trees, a quite small “lookout tower” emerged on the Great Plain. Now, a photo of a very low lookout point on a completely flat area has started to circulate on social media, Index reports. The 1.5-metre-high lookout tower was built by the Kiskunság National Park Directorate (Kiskunsági Nemzeti Park Igazgatósága, KNPI) on the outskirts of Kunszentmiklós. What is more, they did not only build on – they built five more! Two of them are 1.5 to 2 metres high, while the other three have a floor level of 4 metres.

According to kecsup.hu, the construction of the lookouts was part of a so-called LIFE project. 75 percent of the project was EU-funded, while 25 percent was Hungarian-funded. The portal did not receive an answer to the question of how much the lookout points cost.

When contacted by the portal, the national park explained that these thematic observation points are part of an unusual trail, which is still being completed. The trail is not accessible on foot, but by car or bicycle, due to the greater distances and the variety of attractions, Index writes.

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