Metropolitan Court rejects referendum on WWII memorial, says Socialist lawmaker

(MTI) – The Metropolitan Court has rejected in a final ruling a local referendum initiated by the Socialists on the construction of a contested memorial to the victims of Hungary’s 1944 German occupation in central Budapest, a lawmaker of the party said on Saturday.

The ruling disallows any further possibility of legal remedy and has thwarted stopping the construction of the memorial in Szabadsag Square, Pal Steiner, the initiator of the referendum, told MTI.

Steiner, a former mayor of the 5th district where the memorial is planned, called the justification of the ruling “shocking” in which the court said that a referendum cannot be held for the reason that the government had declared the memorial in a decree a project of primary importance from a national economic aspect.

But Hungary has no economic interest in erecting this memorial which would not yield any benefits, but would instead hurt Hungary’s reputation and infuriate democratic states, Steiner said.

He said the opposition Socialists adopted at their Saturday congress a declaration in which they call on the government to abandon its plan on the construction of a monument that “divides and offends Hungarian people.”

They also declared solidarity with those civilians who have been “defending justice for the past 101” days at the construction site and pledged actions in civil disobedience to prevent the erection of the memorial, said Steiner.

Photo: MTI – Noemi Bruzak

Source: http://mtva.hu/hu/hungary-matters