Budapest Mayor Karácsony: Orbán’s ‘war on EU, local govts’ unacceptable

Budapest Mayor Gergely Karácsony on Thursday called it “unacceptable” that Prime Minister Viktor Orbán was “waging wars against the European Union and local governments, two indispensable allies in handling the economic crisis.”

In an open letter published on his Facebook page, Karácsony said that rather than multiplying the resources needed to protect lives and livelihoods by strengthening partnerships, “Orbán is about to reject EU support for the Hungarian people”. He also said the prime minister was pushing local authorities to the brink of insolvency by increasing their burdens.

Although the Budapest municipality’s revenues have fallen by over 20 percent due to the coronavirus epidemic, the government has increased its taxes three-and-a-half-fold, and the taxes on its main water supplier four-fold , Karacsony said.

He called on Orbán to accept the partnership of local governments in the interest of handling the crisis effectively.

“Do not fight with Hungarian localities and the EU, which is offering help to the country, but rather make sure that funding reaches those entitled to it, the Hungarian people,”

Karácsony said.

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Source: MTI