Castle privatisation in Hungary: Opposition turns to OLAF

The opposition Momentum Movement is turning to the European Union’s anti-graft body (OLAF), asking for measures to stop the sale of state-owned, revamped Hungarian castles to private buyers.

Momentum politician János Stummer told a press conference on Friday that Fidesz had submitted a proposal to parliament that would “give the Fidesz elite the opportunity to acquire revamped castles in Hungary free of charge.”

Momentum earlier organised a series of petitions and demonstrations to save castles nationwide, Stummer said. Those buildings should be kept and operated by the state, in  projects benefitting taxpayers, he said.

Dávid Bedő, Momentum’s deputy parliamentary group leader, noted that 12 castles had been reconstructed using EU funds as well as government support. The EU contracts for such funding bar the government from privatising the buildings in question, and so Momentum is asking OLAF to review the draft legislation and “help us prevent this marauders’ privatisation,” he said.

We wrote about the new bill that would make buying castles easier for private individuals HERE.