The government has accepted proposals submitted by district mayors to improve public safety in Budapest in the foreseeable future, the mayors of five inner districts said in a joint statement on Wednesday.
Elevated police presence in Budapest
The statement was signed by district 9 mayor Krisztina Baranyi, district 7 mayor Péter Niedermüller, district 8 mayor András Pikó, district 6 mayor Tamás Soproni and district 13 mayor József Tóth.
In a statement posted by Tóth on his Facebook page, they said that on July 15, the mayors of Budapest’s inner districts had appealed to the government, calling for immediate measures to improve public safety in the capital. At that time, a 30-day period of heightened police patrols was launched, and now Minister of the Interior Gábor Pósfai said that their further proposals had also been accepted, the Hungarian news agency wrote.
These include permanent police presence at Budapest’s most problematic junctions, so concentrated police presence will be provided at 19 permanent and 90 ‘recurring’ locations in the capital.
Regarding a Budapest allowance the mayors had proposed, Posfai said that the issue of introducing a pay supplement taking into account the specific nature of law enforcement officers’ duties in the capital was on the government’s agenda.
New rule concerning tobacconists
Additionally, the minister supports the proposal that local authorities should be granted regulatory powers to regulate the operation of tobacconists. The mayors are requesting that the districts be granted regulatory powers enabling local authorities to restrict the night-time opening hours of tobacconists and to suspend their operations in the event of serious breaches of the law.
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The mayors said the minister also supported the proposal for fines for traffic violations imposed and collected by public space surveillance authorities to be transferred to the local authorities concerned.
Additionally, they said the government would examine their proposals regarding the operating procedures of night shelters. The minister for the interior indicated that this would be the task of a social working group to be set up by the government.
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