Budapest mayor: Responsible mayor must not oppose Budapest Olympics

Budapest, February 1 (MTI) – Any responsible mayor of Budapest must not oppose the Olympics, Budapest Mayor István Tarlós told commercial station Magyar Katolikus Radio on Wednesday.

Tarlós said it was not his job to decide whether hosting the games would benefit all of Hungary but it would certainly benefit the capital.

He said in principle he had no objections to a referendum about withdrawing Budapest’s bid to host the Olympics in 2024 but the timing of the initiative is not justifiable. It is highly unlikely that any genuine concern justifying a referendum emerged a year and a half after the decision was made to submit a bid, he said.

“I have no problems with the referendum but I suspect an undeclared motivation behind it on the part of the initiators,” he said.

Hungary would not have to pay for all the costs of hosting the games because the International Olympic Committee would “contribute large sums to it”, he said.

Photo: Daily News Hungary

Source: MTI