Orbán’s cabinet: Socialist-Liberal city leaders bear responsibility for metro 4 scandal

Budapest, January 20 (MTI) – It is clear that the previous Socialist-Liberal leadership of Budapest’s municipal council bear political responsibility for the corruption scandal surrounding the construction of the city’s fourth metro line, the government spokesman told public radio on Friday.

Zoltán Kovács said it was “absolutely clear” that the city leadership at the time, the then national government and international companies had conspired together in a crime, and all elements of the case must be explored. “But this is not the job of the government,” he insisted.

Due to the half a dozen or so crimes and regulation violations identified by Europe’s anti-fraud office (OLAF), however, the government had no other option than to file a criminal complaint, he added.

Asked about whether the Hungarian justice system should be seen in a critical light given the results of the OLAF report, Kovács said: “Perhaps several issues should be considered in terms of the extent of internal investigations and the rigour of controls.”

On the topic of illegal migrants, the spokesman said the migrants systematically abuse European laws and it was important to find a legal solution to ensure that in the period during which migrants await a legally binding decision concerning their status, they should not be able to move about freely in Hungary. In between the initial and final court ruling, migrants often illegally move on to western Europe, he added.

Photo: WikiCommons

Source: MTI