Budapest district mayor banned PM Orbán from local paper?

Lénárd Borbély, the mayor of Budapest’s 21st district, has barred Prime Minister Viktor Orbán from endorsing a candidate of the ruling parties in the local district newspaper, as stated by Fidesz’s local chapter on Friday. Borbély refuted this claim.

Fidesz VP vs District mayor conflict in Budapest

Responding to Fidesz’s allegations in a Facebook post, the mayor of the 21st district clarified that he did not prohibit anyone, including PM Viktor Orbán, from appearing in the local paper. He added that his conflict was solely with Szilárd Németh, the Vice President of Fidesz and a prominent figure in the electoral district (Csepel-Soroksár), who wanted to get hold of several assets owned by the local government.

Borbély rejected proposed acquisitions, such as the district’s renowned Kis-Duna bench. The local government aims to maintain it as a space for local families to stroll, cycle or enjoy the idyllic natural environment. In contrast, Szilárd Németh proposed constructing a multi-storey hotel on the site, according to the local government’s leadership.

The Kis-Duna bench in Csepel. Source: csepelonkormanyzata – Instagram
Taken by: Pálfalvi László

Csepel will always come first for Borbély

The district’s leader was elected with a massive majority in 2019 despite Csepel being left-leaning both in the 2018 and 2022 general elections. He recounted how Németh attacked him during the municipal election campaign and lamented the collaboration between local Fidesz and leftist parties to tarnish his image. “It is sad but true,” he concluded.

Running as an independent candidate and heading a local civil organisation, Borbély stands a chance of winning the municipal election in Csepel on the 9th of June. He affirmed that Csepel’s interests would always take precedence over aligning with any party’s political agenda or ambitions.

Budapest district mayor Lénárd Borbély and his team. Photo: FB/Lénárd Borbély

Fidesz claims Borbély committed a brutal attack on media freedom

Fidesz asserted that Borbély, who was expelled from the party a year ago, has been “misleading and dividing conservative voters for years.” They accused Borbély and his “pseudo-civic party” of “reviving the communist era of the 1950s.”

The ban “is a brutal attack on media freedom…  Borbély and his lot have defiled the freedom of the media; furthermore, they have infringed upon fundamental rights such as freedom of expression, the right to information and voting rights,” stated Fidesz.

“They want to silence and ban from the political sphere both the Hungarian prime minister and the mayoral candidate of Fidesz and Christian Democrats,” the party said in its statement.

Photo: FB/Szilárd Németh

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