Mayor Karácsony organised massive protest: Budapest may stop in January if the government “looting” does not end – photos

At a “Budapest Pride March 2.0” rally outside the Carmelite Monastery, the prime minister’s office, Gergely Karácsony, the mayor of Budapest, vowed the city would “not kneel”, as he handed the City Assembly’s resolution on its “real financial crisis” to a government representative.

Mayor Karácsony: Budapest is Hungary’s engine

“This regime fears Budapest because we prove life outside their system can be freer, happier, and more humane,” Karácsony declared on Monday evening, accusing the government of “petty vindictiveness, incompetence, and cruelty”, despite the capital being “Hungary’s engine and cultural heart”.

The city’s achievements included saving lives during the Covid pandemic, securing the cheapest energy during the energy crisis, supporting vulnerable people “when the state abandoned them”, and building parks, “not hotels for cronies”.

He also praised his administration’s record on “defending student housing and Rákosrendező”, supporting Ukrainian refugees “where the government failed”, and hosting Hungary’s largest-ever Pride march after official bans.

Money spent on vanity projects

Since the national ruling Fidesz party “lost control of the city”, funding cuts had surged twenty-fold, he insisted. “Budapest now funds the government; more is taken away from it than given,” he said. Referring to the district where he gave his speech, Karácsony called the 700 billion forint Buda Castle investment a “vanity project for oligarchs”.

Citing rulings by the Constitutional Court and the State Audit Office, he demanded from the government: “Just obey Hungarian law. Return our money, and we’ll handle the rest.” He said the court declared it “unconstitutional for Budapest to finance the government” and “unlawful for the government to take Budapest’s money”, while the audit office declared that “the extortion cannot continue because Budapest is going bankrupt.”

The city may stop in January due to lack of money

He warned that if 27,000 public workers went unpaid in January, “the city stops”, and the country would bear the consequences. “If the looting doesn’t stop, neither will we,” Karácsony pledged. “January is just the start.”

Budapest City Assembly urges govt to negotiate with mayor, rejects ‘insolvency’ declaration

The Budapest City Assembly passed a resolution on Monday calling on the government to negotiate with Gergely Karácsony, the city’s mayor, to ensure sustainable budget management as guaranteed by Hungary’s Fundamental Law.

The vote, held in an extraordinary session at the Kelenfold bus depot, saw 12 representatives support the final motion, while 10 Fidesz members abstained and Tisza Party delegates boycotted the vote.

The session followed a statement by Gergely Gulyas, head of the Prime Minister’s Office, that the government would assist Budapest only if the assembly declared insolvency, a demand rejected by the majority in the assembly. Instead, they adopted a Podmaniczky Movement amendment explicitly ruling out the nationalisation of city-owned companies.

Fidesz had proposed declaring insolvency, but the motion failed. The assembly’s resolution now demands direct talks to secure the capital’s operations without conceding to the government’s conditions.

Unconstitutional fund withdrawals?

At Monday’s extraordinary session, Karácsony reiterated that court rulings deemed the government’s “solidarity contributions” and fund withdrawals unconstitutional, while the State Audit Office confirmed Budapest could not maintain mandatory services if forced to comply.

“The government’s refusal to negotiate, unless we declare insolvency, is an unacceptable ultimatum,” he said, vowing to “hold them to their word” after ministers pledged to prevent the capital’s collapse.

“We won’t kneel and beg for money that’s rightfully ours by law,” he declared, warning that 27,000 public service workers risked unpaid wages in January without a deal.

Fidesz accuses Karácsony that he is wasting money

Fidesz City Assembly group leader Alexandra Szentkirályi accused Karácsony of “political theatre“, citing 214 billion forints in reserves left by his predecessor Istvan Tarlos in 2019. She said this had been now replaced by 170 billion in debt. She slammed “wasteful spending“, including 51 billion forints on the Rákosrendező project, 900 million forints in bonuses and perks, and millions wasted on the “Budapest Brand” campaign.

Meanwhile, she insisted, the government had injected 770 billion forints into the city for rail upgrades, trams, and health care.

“Tisza’s boycott proves they’re dodging responsibility, just as they are doing on the national stage,” she added.

Tibor Deri, a representative for the opposition Democratic Coalition (DK), called Tisza’s absence “cowardly“, given the stakes for 1.7 million residents and 27,000 city employees.

HUF 33 billion deficit on the horizon

Ambrus Kiss, the city administration’s director, countered that not a single forint of current debt had been incurred by Karácsony’s team since the government had blocked borrowing. Without changes, he warned, Budapest faced a 33 billion forint deficit in 2026, defaulting on a 40 billion forint overdraft, and breaching fiscal laws — as business tax revenues would arrive only in March.

Podmaniczky Movement leader David Vitezy dismissed the session as “a farce“, and he proposed withholding payments to oil and gas company Mol and to power utility companies to “force the government’s hand”, since shutting down public transport “would be their call“.

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