Government does not let anything to stand in the way of the Chinese university in Budapest

Source: facebook.com/orbanviktor

The alliance of the six opposition parties clearly said that provided they win the 2022 general elections, they will stop the project worth 550 bn HUF (EUR 1.5bn), 80 pc of which will be a Chinese state loan. Furthermore, the mayor of one of the Budapest districts concerned would like to launch a local referendum on the issue. Meanwhile, the government is to create a legal framework that can remove all obstacles from the way of the project.

According to atv.hu, PM Viktor Orbán signed a new government decree yesterday in which he clears that the development areas on which the new buildings of the Chinese Fudan University will be created should all be state-owned. Therefore, the government would not have to negotiate with Krisztina Baranyi, the opposition mayor of Ferencváros, about selling lands owned by the district.

That is important because Ms Baranyi announced before that she would like to launch a referendum about the project, a plan, which Gergely Karácsony, the opposition lord mayor of Budapest, backed then. Furthermore, she said that

she would not sell any areas belonging to Ferencváros that could be used for the project.

László Palkovics, minister of national innovation and technology, said in April that he would like to start talks with Mr Karácsony and Ms Baranyi, adding that he would arrive with a remarkable offer. The mayor of Ferencváros, however, told today morning that

they have received nothing from the minister yet.

She cleared that, according to the original plans, 60 pc of the area of the project belonged to Ferencváros, but it seems that the government modified the concept.

The decree contains the foundation of a joint-stock company responsible for the development project of the student town and the Fudan projects. For that reason,