Fidesz: Budapest may go bankrupt in 2023

Photo: Daily News Hungary

Zsolt Wintermantel, the former mayor of Fidesz in Budapest’s 4th district, now a municipal council member and group leader of Orbán’s party in Budapest, expressed his views about how the opposition led the Hungarian capital in the last three years. He highlighted that some left-wing political groups are interested in leading Budapest to the brink of collapse. Meanwhile, Budapest’s mayor, Gergely Karácsony, said without European money, Hungary would not be able to emerge from its cost-of-living crisis.

Mr Wintermantel said he heard “corridor gossip” about a secret plan that Gergely Karácsony would like the Centre for Budapest Transport (BKK) to go bankrupt next September, which would be the start of the municipal election campaign. The elections will take place in May 2024. He also accused the biggest Hungarian opposition party, the Ferenc Gyurcsány-lead Democratic Coalition, of pulling the strings from behind in that issue. Furthermore, he suggested that the opposition parties, mostly DK and the Socialists, are unsatisfied with Karácsony and will not back him in 2024 for a second term, Magyar Hírlap wrote.

Karácsony: European money needed for Hungary cost-of-living recovery

European money is needed if Hungary is to emerge from its cost-of-living crisis, Gergely Karácsony, the mayor of Budapest, said on Friday. But the government must comply with the rule of law and enforce strict anti-corruption measures to achieve this, he added. Further, it would be worthwhile for the European Union to boost the role of local governments, Karacsony said on Facebook.

At the initiative of the European Commission and the ambassadors and representatives of 17 countries, EU funding was the subject of discussions in City Hall on Thursday, the mayor noted. “Given rampant inflation and skyrocketing energy prices, the majority of Hungarian people, businesses and municipalities are in severe financial straits.” The country needs EU funds urgently, he added. The European Council will make the final decision on funding, he noted. Thursday’s meeting of ambassadors was important, he added, because diplomats gained first-hand knowledge of the rule-of-law situation in Hungary as well as the straitened circumstances of local councils.