Jobbik

Jobbik to submit proposal on banning privatisation of public water utilities

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Opposition Jobbik will soon submit a proposal on banning the privatisation of public water utilities, party deputy leader Róbert Dudás said on Wednesday.

Dudás told a press briefing streamed on Facebook that the government had told local authorities to hand over their public water utility assets free of charge by the end of September.

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Dudás accused the government of “systematically hobbling the operation of public water utility providers over the past decade”, forcing them to accumulate multi-billion-forint debts. Also, the government has not undertaken to retain employees of the companies or to refrain from selling the assets, Dudás said. The government should leave water management in the hands of local authorities, he said.

Noting that the government has already privatised the management of motorways and outsourced the operation of public schools, Dudás said the “situation now is even more severe; water is essential for every Hungarian.”

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Government to give renters back the part of their rent above EUR 249?

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Opposition Jobbik has proposed giving renters back the part of their rent above 100,000 forints (EUR 249) in the form of a housing subsidy.

Jobbik wants to give renters back “as much as possible of what the government has taken away in the form of taxes”, Dániel Z. Kárpát, the party’s leader, told a press conference on Friday. The party also wants to give a 20,000-25,000 forint utility subsidy to those who will receive “unrealistically high” utility bills from the autumn, Z. Karpat said.

He noted that Jobbik in 2012 had drawn up a rental housing plan that would favour teachers, those raising children, kindergarten workers and university and college students majoring in fields of strategic importance.

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Hungarian opposition calls on govt to divert more funding to education

Koloman Brenner Jobbik

Opposition Jobbik on Thursday urged the government to divert more funding within this year’s budget to education.

Citing fresh statistics, Jobbik deputy group leader Koloman Brenner told a press conference that some 4,800 teachers were missing from Hungarian public education. This problem can only be resolved by paying teachers more and giving them greater recognition, he said.

Under Jobbik’s proposal, the extra funding diverted to the education sector would be used to raise teacher wages by 50 percent with a view to avoiding strikes, he added.

Brenner said it was also unclear whether schools could be properly heated during the winter, pointing out that several institutions had already indicated that their school year would not run under the regular class schedule. The prices of school meals have also gone up, he added.

Brenner also said his party would double family allowances.

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Orbán sticks to the Russian oil making Hungary vulnerable?

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Márton Gyöngyösi, the new president of the opposition party Jobbik and a Non-attached member of the European Parliament, believes Viktor Orbán makes Hungary vulnerable by sticking to Russian oil instead of accepting EU money and investing in diversification.

Problems with Russian deliveries

Gyöngyösi wrote in a Facebook post that the European Union offered a lot of money for its member states to create alternative oil delivery routes. As a result, the country could reduce its dependence on Russia and Russian deliveries.

The question became a hot topic after oil ceased to come following a quarrel between Russian Transneft and the Ukrainian UkrTransNafta. The Russians claimed they wanted to pay, but their money was rejected because of the sanctions imposed by the European Union after the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

As a result, oil transfers to Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic stopped on 4 August. However, the press discovered the fundamental change only on 9 August. Afterwards, the shares of MOL started to plummet. Therefore, the Hungarian gas and oil giant announced they would pay the transit fee to be paid by the Russian side, so oil is once again arriving via the Friendship pipeline.

Orbán wants Russian oil

“The normal month-change shutdown in supply was scheduled for the 4th of August. With Hungarian intervention, the technical, and accounting obstacle to the restart was removed within a short time by assuming the transit fee. Thus, the delivery started yesterday, and from the night hours, oil will be arriving again continuously from Russia via Ukraine to Hungary via the Friendship pipeline,” they said in a statement published on 11 August.

Gyöngyösi slammed the decision and suggested that Hungarian taxpayers would have to pay for the transfers instead of the Russians. He also added that the European Union would cover the costs of diversification. However, PM Viktor Orbán rejected that money and sticked to oil from Russia, Gyöngyösi instists. Because of that, Hungary became more vulnerable and exposed to Russian deliveries.

Jobbik would choose EU money

Furthermore, the Friendship pipeline goes through war-torn Ukraine. Even though neither Russians nor Ukrainians harmed it during the war, that can change and would endanger the operation of MOL and the supply of Hungary.

Gyöngyösi wanted the government to create a national emergency board in July because of the energy crisis, the inflation, the economic problems, and the government restrictions. According to his initiative, the board would include the opposition parties. However, his call remained without response even though he turned to President Katalin Novák.

Disclaimer: the sole liability for the opinions stated rests with the author(s). These opinions do not necessarily reflect the official position of the European Parliament.

Hungarians may baulk at a Huxit decision of the parliament on referendum

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In Hungary, the parliament’s right is to decide on the country’s EU membership. Therefore, if an anti-EU political party gains a majority or even supermajority, it can declare a Huxit without a referendum. Today only right-radical Mi Hazánk says they would hold a referendum on the question. Other parties declare themselves pro-EU. But Jobbik believes Orbán’s Fidesz would like a Huxit. Therefore, they submitted a referendum question in which they are baulking at such a decision.

“Do you agree that parliament should not be allowed to support a proposal or motion that could result in Hungary leaving the European Union?”. That is the referendum question Márton Gyöngyösi, the newly-elected chairman of Jobbik and a non-attached member of the European Parliament (NI), submitted last week as a private individual. The referendum would prohibit the Hungarian parliament from approving a decision that could lead to Hungary’s exit from the European Union.

The will of the people is crucial when it comes to an issue of this magnitude, which can only be expressed through a referendum, Gyöngyösi told a press conference before submitting his question to the National Election Committee. He noted that his party had said during the 2019 European parliamentary election campaign that the stakes of that ballot would be whether Hungarians would allow “[Prime Minister] Viktor Orbán to drive Hungary out of the European Union”. He referred to Orbán’s Baile Tusnad (Tusnádfürdő) speech as a clear sign of that aim.

A Medián survey conducted this May concluded that the majority of Hungarian society would opt to remain in the European Union in a hypothetical referendum. Almost two-thirds would do so even if Viktor Orbán were campaigning for withdrawal. Exactly two-thirds of government voters would vote to remain in the EU. 55% would vote to stay even if Orbán was campaigning to leave, the survey said.

Gyöngyösi said in a Facebook post that a successful referendum would bind the government’s hand for three years on this issue despite their supermajority in the parliament.

That means Orbán’s Fidesz would not be able to vote for a Huxit in the parliament for three years after the referendum.

However, provided the referendum was invalid or unsuccessful nothing would change. The parliament would have the power to decide about a possible Huxit, just like now. Thus, there is no risk in initiating such a referendum, he cleared.

He said that Fidesz has the power to modify any laws, including the EU membership in Hungary. Therefore, as opposition MEP and leader of Jobbik, he has to use all possible tools to baulk a Huxit. “The strongest guarantee for that today is a successful referendum”, he insisted.

Disclaimer: the sole liability for the opinions stated rests with the author(s). These opinions do not necessarily reflect the official position of the European Parliament.

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Jobbik calls on former leader to return parliamentary mandate

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The leadership of opposition party Jobbik has called on its former head, Péter Jakab, to return his parliamentary mandate.

In a statement sent to MTI on Sunday, the party said its board voted unanimously on Saturday to call on Jakab – who announced days earlier that he would leave the party but continue to sit in parliament as an independent – to return his mandate “to the group of people who once saw in him hope as a new leader who represented right-wing, conservative values”.

“Péter, this group of people once looked up to you and followed you. Now all they see in you is how others are taking decisions in your place,” Jobbik said.

Jakab won a seat in parliament in 2018, and was elected Jobbik’s parliamentary group leader in 2019. He was elected party leader in 2020 and re-elected in May 2022, but resigned a month later, citing differences with the party leadership.

Péter Jakab Jobbik
Read also Former leader leaves opposition party to fight against Orbán

Former leader leaves opposition party to fight against Orbán

Péter Jakab Jobbik

Péter Jakab, the former leader of the opposition Jobbik party, is leaving the party and its parliamentary group and will sit in parliament as an independent.

Jakab wrote on Facebook on Thursday that Jobbik leader Márton Gyöngyösi had given him an ultimatum to fall in line or leave the party.

“If I stand by the people and continue to stand by those who lost out on the Orbán regime … then I have no place in Jobbik … The choice is clear,” he wrote.

Jakab first won a seat in parliament in 2018, and was elected as Jobbik’s group leader in 2019. He was elected party leader in 2020 and re-elected in May 2022, but resigned a month later, citing differences with the party leadership. Gyöngyösi was elected to replace him on July 2.

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Will Hungarians vote about leaving the EU soon?

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Opposition Jobbik has initiated a referendum aimed at prohibiting parliament from approving a decision that could lead to Hungary’s exit from the European Union.

The referendum question, submitted by Jobbik leader and a Non-attached member of the European Parliament (NI) Márton Gyöngyösi as a private individual, reads: “Do you agree that parliament should not be allowed to support a proposal or motion that could result in Hungary leaving the European Union?”

The will of the people is crucial when it comes to an issue of this magnitude, which can only be expressed through a referendum, Gyöngyösi told a press conference before submitting his question to the National Election Committee on Monday.

He said that while Hungary’s constitution prohibits holding referendums on matters concerning obligations arising from international treaties, the government “with its two-thirds parliamentary majority could lead the country out of the EU at any time”.

Gyöngyösi noted that his party had said during the 2019 European parliamentary election campaign that the stakes of that ballot would be whether Hungarians would allow “[Prime Minister] Viktor Orbán to drive Hungary out of the European Union”.

Though this view was not taken seriously even by the other opposition parties “the prime minister’s recent speech in Baile Tusnad makes it totally clear that this is his goal”, Gyöngyösi insisted.

Disclaimer: the sole liability for the opinions stated rests with the author(s). These opinions do not necessarily reflect the official position of the European Parliament.

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Hungarian parliament to hold extraordinary session on Monday

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The opposition parties have called an extraordinary session of parliament to discuss proposals regarding changes to the small business tax (kata), to be held on August 8.

The Momentum party said in a statement that the opposition called on parliament to withdraw the amendment to the kata tax, which limited the circle of SMEs entitled to use it. The opposition also called on government parties to adopt opposition proposals to aid people hit hard by the cost-of-living crisis in the country, Momentum said.

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At the same time, Fidesz parliamentary group leader Máté Kocsis “made it clear in advance that his party won’t attend the meeting, which showed that Fidesz do not care about the fate of Hungarians and Hungarian families,” the opposition statement said.

Should the meeting have quorum, the agenda will include abolishing utility fee raises, a home insulation programme, the food crisis, a climate pass to motivate motorists to change to public transport, and VAT cuts on certain essential products, proposed by the Socialists, Democratic Coalition, Párbeszéd, LMP and Jobbik parties.

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Hungarian opposition calls for special parliament session over ‘cost-of-living crisis’

Six opposition parliamentary groups have called for a special session of parliament to be convened on Aug. 8 to discuss their proposals to mitigate “the cost-of-living crisis” they say has gripped the country.

Representatives of Momentum, Democratic Coalition, Parbeszed, the Socialists, LMP, and Jobbik told a joint press conference about their bill to withdraw changes to the tax on small businesses (kata) and keep the full cap on household energy bills and the price of basic foodstuffs in place. Further, they propose VAT cuts, a public transport “climate pass” — a 5,000 forint monthly voucher to encourage car users to switch to public transport — and a nationwide home insulation programme.

Momentum’s Miklós Hajnal said the special session would present an opportunity to postpone any changes made to kata to next January to allow time for consultations with advocacy groups and to introduce any changes. Meanwhile, a looming “social crisis” in Hungary during “this age of austerity” would also require immediate action, he said, accusing the government of getting Hungarians “to pay for its wasteful spending during the elections and for its failed economic policy”.

Olga Kálmán of DK said the party called on the government to withdraw its “utility price rise” and draft regulations for “family-friendly, economically sustainable utility price cuts”. She accused Prime Minister Viktor Orban of “lying as he talked of protecting the utility price caps while raising prices and implementing the largest austerity package of all time.”

Párbeszéd group leader Bence Tordai said Hungary had been “hit by a brutal food crisis”, with skyrocketing prices and growing inflation. The party calls on the government to boost food self-sufficiency, reintroduce the strategic food reserves abolished in 2016, and to take steps to adapt to climate change, he said.

LMP proposed a “climate pass” for public transport to help those hit hard by rising fuel prices and to encourage motorists to use public transport.

Ágnes Kunhalmi of the Socialists said the party called for launching a home insulation programme as a means to ensure sustainable utility price cuts for families.

Jobbik called for VAT cuts on basic foodstuffs and products used mostly by families raising children. The government should also waive VAT on gas, electricity and firewood, parliamentary group leader László Lukács said.

Read alsoJobbik: Orbán cabinet ‘ruining’ social-care sector

Ruling Fidesz said in reaction that the left had “fallen apart” after the spring general election and were now “subserviently doing as they are told” by Democratic Coalition leader Ferenc Gyurcsany, “setting the stage for him”. Europe is suffering from the effects of the war in Ukraine and the related “sanctions imposed by Brussels”, including wartime inflation and a wartime economic and energy crisis, Fidesz said in a statement.

“If it were up to the left, this crisis would have swept Hungary away by now because the left wants to drag the country into war and make the people pay the price of the war,” the party said. The measures protecting Hungarian families from drastic price increases are unparalleled across Europe, Fidesz added.

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Read alsoGovernment changes fuel purchase rules in Hungary from today – UPDATED

Jobbik: Orbán cabinet ‘ruining’ social-care sector

The government’s decision to dilute caps on household energy bills and restrict the circle of those who benefit from the cap on the price of fuel will “ruin” Hungary’s social-care system, opposition Jobbik said on Monday.

The price increases resulting from the recent changes will make it impossible for the country’s social-care institutions to function, Jobbik MP Ferenc Varga told a press conference, arguing that the institutions could soon see their expenditures rise by up to tens of millions of forints.

The government did not consult those affected by the changes, neither were there any impact studies carried out on how the social-care sector would be affected by them, Varga said.

Jobbik MP said it was also unclear to the sector’s workers whether they could expect the government to take steps to ensure the security of their operations, or what would happen to the existing clients of any service providers that are forced to or decide to close down.

“[Prime Minister] Viktor Orbán and his team are unfit to govern, as once again they’ve made decisions without consulting members of the profession in question or the organisations impacted by the decisions,” he said.

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Opposition DK: Orbán’s Fidesz brought Hungary to ruin

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The opposition parties said on Saturday that the government’s latest decision “to partially withdraw” capped fuel prices represented a severe hit on small businesses, an additional step that boosts inflation and a move away from green solutions.

The Democratic Coalition (DK) said in a statement that ruling Fidesz was gradually withdrawing from more and more drivers the possibility of buying cheap fuel. “This will continue until so few drivers are eligible to buy fuel at the regulated price that the scheme can be cancelled without anyone noticing,” it added.

“First, over 12 years, they brought Hungary to ruin, then lied to the whole country before the election and since then, they have been introducing austerity measures, raising taxes, utility fees and fuel prices, making people pay for the consequences of their government,” DK said.

Jobbik said the decision was a severe hit on small businesses whose operation had already been hampered by decisions in recent weeks. The government allowed only a few hours for small businesses to prepare for having to pay market prices at the petrol station, it added.

Jobbik reiterated a party proposal to waiver VAT on utility fees, provide direct support to those that suffered from recent changes to the itemised small business tax KATA and utility fees, offer preferences to families with one and two children and extend the cap on utility fees to small businesses.

Párbeszéd said in a statement that the partial withdrawal of fuel price caps would result in more expensive transport costs and businesses’ increased costs will be transferred to consumers.

Momentum proposed reducing road tolls affecting transporters. “It could reduce inflation running amok so as to prevent the brutal petrol price increases from resulting in brutal food price increase,” the party said.

LMP said the decision was proof that Fidesz had “an aversion to green solutions”. Hungary’s dependence on fossil energy is the result of 12 years of faulty government policies, it added. The party slammed the government for its refusal to comment on its proposal to introduce a monthly 5,000 forint (EUR 12) pass for all means of public transport.

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Hungarian opposition Jobbik launches signature campaign against govt ‘austerity’

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Opposition Jobbik has decided to launch a signature drive in protest against what the party sees as the government’s austerity measures, deputy leader Dániel Z. Kárpát told a press conference on Thursday.

Z. Kárpát said it was “unacceptable that the government should earn extra profits in a crisis”. He insisted the government had “lied all along” in the election campaign, saying “not a word about harsh austerity measures” such as restrictive changes to the small business tax (kata) or lowering the caps on household utility prices.

Jobbik demands that the government should stop “profiteering” on taxpayers and scrap the VAT on basic foodstuffs, items for raising children, firewood, as well as on household gas and electricity, Z. Kárpát said. He added the signature campaign could force the government to reduce the VAT in those areas to nil.

Z. Kárpát insisted that the government had “revealed its intentions” when they had budgeted thousands of billions of forints in extra revenues collected from the VAT on soaring prices. He called it “disgusting” that the government should take advantage of “the misery of others” to gain extra profits.

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Jobbik demands urgent measures against food price increase

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Jobbik demands that the government should take immediate measures to mitigate the effects of the unprecedented drought and record food price increases in Hungary, the deputy leader of the opposition party said on Wednesday.

Hungary is suffering “a brutal drought unseen before”, Zoltán Magyar told a press conference. “It is affecting 700,000 hectares of arable land which will yield no crop to harvest in the autumn at all, leaving farmers with zero revenue,” he said.

Magyar said the government had lied in promising earlier to double the size of land under irrigation by 2020, insisting that irrigation “had not been introduced in any additional inch of land” ever since. To remedy the situation, Jobbik proposes to build artificial reservoirs to collect rainwater for irrigation purposes, he said.

To help farmers, Jobbik proposes that the government should grant them in a pre-financing scheme an interest-free loan for the purchase of crop seeds and insecticides, Magyar said.

He said the drought will push up food prices by 30 to 40 percent this year which will seriously affect customers. Jobbik therefore calls for reducing the value-added tax of basic food items to zero percent, he said.

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Read alsoJobbik calls on Novák to convene ‘national crisis council’ over economic crisis

Will 5-forint coins disappear in Hungary because of inflation?

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An MP of opposition party Jobbik proposed to the National Bank of Hungary to withdraw the 5-forint coins from circulation because it is no longer profitable to issue them. Therefore, Péter Balassa would like György Matolcsy, the governor of the Hungarian national bank, to issue a decree withdrawing it as soon as possible.

According to 24.hu, Mr Balassa submitted a proposal to the parliament reminding it that the national bank withdrew the 1- and 2-forint coins in 2008. The decision meant a 3-4 billion HUF (7.5-10 million EUR) plus revenue for Hungary’s state budget. However, since then, the inflation of the Hungarian national currency has accelerated. Therefore, the value of the 5-forint coins does not reach its gate price. One coin is worth more as non-ferrous metal scrap than money.

One coin weighs 4.2 grams, made of copper, zinc and nickel. 238 pieces weigh 1 kilogram, which is worth 1,190 HUF (3 EUR). However, you can sell 1 kilogram of household brass waste for 1,500 HUF (3.77 EUR). As a result, it is more worth selling the coins as waste than use as money. According to Balassa’s calculations, the profit reaches 300 HUF (0.75 EUR) per kilogram.

On average, the waste price can be multiple times the cost of the war material. If we calculate only with brass, 1 kilogram of raw material costs 6,000 HUF (15 EUR), which makes the cost of producing one 5-forint coin 25 forints. Furthermore, that price does not include the cost of nickel and zinc incorporated, the money spent on the production, transport and storing, etc. Moreover, based on press information, 62 percent of the users think we do not need those coins.

If the national bank withdrew the 5-forint coins, it could save billions of forints (millions of euros). Jobbik would give that money to the social sector struggling with a lack of government financial support for a long time.

The forint currency system was introduced in Hungary on 1 August 1946, mnb.hu writes. Individual pieces of the coins series from the 2 fillér to the 5 forint coin (2, 10 and 20 fillér as well as 5 forint coins) issued in 1946 remained in circulation for more than 30 years, while coins of these same denominations but made with different material composition, weight as well as various obverse and reverse were also issued, often following the changes in the form of government and the arms of the nation. Some of these coins were in circulation only for a few years, but most of them for 30-40 years.

Currently, the smallest denomination is the 5-forint coin, while the biggest is 20,000 HUF. The national bank withdrew the 1 and 2-forint coins on 1 March 2008.

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Jobbik calls on Novák to convene ‘national crisis council’ over economic crisis

Gyöngyösi Márton

Jobbik is turning to President Katalin Novák to convene a “national crisis council” of all parliamentary parties, employees and employers’ associations, to discuss the handling of the economic crisis, party leader Márton Gyöngyösi said on Thursday.

Gyöngyösi told a press conference he had cancelled a proposed cross-party consultation on the subject as ruling parties have failed to attend.

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“There is no willingness at all on the part of the government to cooperate, which is an offence to the nearly two million opposition voters,” he said.

In the letter to Novák, “a symbol of national unity as president”, Gyongyosi said he would ask her to call the meeting “to find a solution to this very, very grave crisis which the government seems to be unable or unwilling to act against.”

“The forint has collapsed, inflation is skyrocketing, and Hungary cannot access EU funds it is entitled to because of the government’s trampling on the rule of law”, Gyöngyösi said, adding that Hungary was on its way to face unprecedented recession. He blamed the government’s “unorthodox economic policy” for the crisis, saying that it has not been caused by the war in Ukraine.

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Read alsoGovernment eliminates loophole offered by small business tax

Opposition parties ask president not to sign small business tax law

TóthBertalan

Lawmakers of the opposition Socialist, Jobbik and LMP parties on Wednesday appealed to the Hungarian president asking Katalin Novák not to sign the new law on the Itemised Tax for Small Businesses (KATA).

Parliament adopted on Tuesday the amendments to kata regulations which raises the income threshold for taxpayers to 18 million forints (EUR 44,000) per year from 12 million, and restricts the circle of eligible entrepreneurs. According to the amended legislation, kata taxpayers will continue to pay a flat monthly rate of 50,000 forints instead of corporate or payroll tax. Income over the 18 million threshold would be taxed at a rate of 40 percent.

Kata will be available for sole proprietors from September 1. To eliminate hidden employment, only entrepreneurs providing services and goods for private customers will be eligible. The sole exception are taxi drivers, who could remain within kata while providing services for companies too.

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In an open letter to Novák, Socialist co-leader Bertalan Tóth said the law passed hastily “does not serve predictability”, insisting that “the livelihood and security of 450,000 people cannot be turned upside down just in 24 hours in the middle of the year”. He said it was crucial to protect families “in an unstable situation triggered by the war and with a record high inflation putting extra burdens on them”. He said Novák is “facing to take a decision that will show whether the president represents the unity of the nation and the interests of families or serves a political party”.

Lawmakers of LMP said the new kata law means a significant tax increase in the form of an austerity measure. “It will put out of business small entrepreneurs like electricians, physiotherapists or couriers while not putting any extra tax burden on large companies such as Mol, Audi, Richter or BMW,” LMP’s spokesman József Gál told a press conference. He called for increasing the corporate tax rate and introducing a double-digit personal income tax and an asset tax on large companies.

Anita Kőrösi Potocska, Jobbik’s deputy leader, told a press conference that small entrepreneurs unable to pay their taxes under the new kata regulations would increase their prices making their customers to pay in the end for their increasing public burden. Lawmaker Dániel Z Kárpát called on the government “to include in sharing the public burden multinational companies it constantly indulges”.

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Socialists: government should spend money on people in need instead of fireworks

Fireworks Budapest

The Socialists have called on the government to scale back the fireworks on August 20, Hungary’s national holiday, and “use the money saved to help those in need”.

Help people instead of spend money on fireworks

Party deputy leader Imre Komjáthi told an online press conference on Friday that the costs of the fireworks in 2009, the last year of a Socialist government in Hungary, came to 212 million forints (EUR 520,000). This year, the government is shelling out over one billion for the same purpose, he said.

“At a time when millions of Hungarians live in existential insecurity,

fireworks worth 212 million would be a dignified way to celebrate the founding of the Hungarian state,”

he said. The Socialist party had proposed earlier to introduce 20,000-forint monthly vouchers for families in need, to be spent exclusively on basic foods, he said.

“In the current situation, Hungary needs more bread and higher wages and pensions. Rather than blinding people, we should feed them,” Komjáthi said.

Jobbik proposes inter-party consultations on economic crisis

Opposition Jobbik’s new leader Márton Gyöngyösi has proposed the launch of consultations between parliamentary parties on managing the economic crisis. Gyöngyösi told a press conference on Friday that he would send letters to the heads of nine parliamentary groups before the end of the day, inviting them to a meeting next Thursday.

“The government cannot or does not want to understand what type of crisis we are heading towards and what the reasons are,”

he said. He added that it should be a government task to assess the situation but “as a responsible politician” he felt obliged to propose that political powers should seek a solution jointly.

Under the threat of an economic crisis unprecedented for decades, the government does not appear to have a response to the situation, while the central bank’s forex reserves are at an all-time low and “it can hardly protect itself from speculation”. The situation could be resolved with the help of European Union resources, he added.

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