BREAKING! Public transport in Budapest to pause on Friday

Budapest is on the verge of bankruptcy, the government has seized the capital’s accounts, leaving them completely empty. The mayor is pointing to the government and Fidesz as the cause of the trouble, while Fidesz is pointing to Karácsony and, of course, the Tisza party, who are not even in power.

Budapest company unions to set up demonstration and strike committees

Unions at companies run by the Budapest metropolitan council have decided to set up demonstration and strike committees, Gergely Karacsony, the city’s mayor, said on Monday.

Karácsony said on Facebook that he had been told about the decision at a meeting with the employees of the Budapest transport company BKV. The mayor said he understood their decision to prepare for a strike, which they will discuss at another meeting in the afternoon.

“It is how the unions point out in their appeal: anyone who wants to push Budapest into bankruptcy will be dragged down with it,” Karácsony said. “The anti-Budapest policy will mean the failure of the state.”

Karácsony said the unions have called on him to discuss the consequences of the government’s policies with Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, adding that he was prepared to meet the prime minister at any time and anywhere.

The 27,000 people employed by the city council “understand full well that Budapest can’t keep financing the state”, Karácsony wrote. “They can’t keep plugging the holes in the budget with the funds cut from the capital when those holes keep getting bigger,” he said. “Budapest is being pushed into poverty as the country also gets poorer and the oligarchs get richer.”

“Budapest has to function; Budapest wants to live and not just survive,” he added.

Karácsony said his administration will inform the employees at Budapest-run companies of their next steps. Budapest residents will also be kept up to date on platforms, including announcements on public transport.