Dialogue for Hungary (Párbeszéd Magyarországért)

Local elections – Opposition Karácsony: ‘Now it is our turn’

opposition mayor candidate

Gergely Karácsony, the opposition’s joint candidate for Budapest mayor, has promised to “turn Budapest into a common home of all of us”, once he wins the local elections scheduled for Sunday.

“Now it is our turn to demonstrate that there is room for fair politics, and we can take Budapest to the 21st century, and keep it in Europe forever”, he told a rally closing the opposition parties’ election campaign in downtown Budapest on Friday evening.

“Now it is within reach for us to retake our city. History has taught us that changes in Hungary always start in Budapest, and now they have begun,” he said.

Karácsony reiterated his promises to impose a new tax on the owners of property worth more than 500 million forints, plant as many trees as the number of babies born in the city annually, plant a large forest on Csepel Island, create a green corridor along the Danube in northern Budapest, help needy pensioners settle their heating bills, and make public transport free for children under age 14. He added that no sports stadiums will be built before each district has a CT scanner of their own.

Antal Csárdi, a lawmaker of green LMP, said that the opposition parties together are now stronger and more united than ruling Fidesz.

Párbeszéd co-leader Tímea Szabó said that over the past nine years the opposition had never stood closer to victory than it does today.

Ágnes Kunhalmi, a Socialist lawmaker, said that Hungary is in a period of transition from an authoritarian regime to an open dictatorship.

“What is at stake in the local elections is to save the country from dictatorial rule,” she said.

András Fekete-Győr, leader of Momentum, said the elections would open a new chapter in the history of Budapest.

Klára Dobrev, EP Vice-President and MEP of the Democratic Coalition, blamed incumbent mayor Istvan Tarlos for having exposed the city to the “oligarchic, mafia-type operation of Fidesz” and given preference to party discipline over the interests of its residents.

Fidesz: Timmermans, left-wing mayors promoting pro-migration schemes

karácsony timmermans

The left wing is not up to the task of blocking European Union pro-migration policies, a government official said in an interview to public radio on Sunday.

The main opposition Budapest mayoral candidate, Gergely Karácsony, recently met Frans Timmermans, the European Commission’s first vice-president, who has advocated spending EU funds on migrants as well as implementing a mandatory quota for relocating migrants, Csaba Dömötör, a Prime Minister’s Office parliamentary state secretary, told Kossuth Radio.

He accused Timmermans and his associates of teaming up with left-wing mayors to promote pro-migration plans.

He said there was “movement” in Brussels in connection with the dispute over migrant quotas, partly due to the change of government in Italy and its opposition to the policies of former Interior Minister Matteo Salvini.

“The same old game is being played,” he said. “First the talk is about a voluntary quota scheme and then a mandatory quota together with sanctions is put on the table. Anyone refusing to take part would then have to pay a heavy fine.”

Dömötör said Hungarian policymaking was based on public consultations and elections. Accordingly, Hungarians clearly rejected immigration and they would again have a chance to confirm this position by voting in the Oct. 13 local elections, he added.

He said the government had nominated an expert to the European Commission opposed to immigration.

“This is our guiding principle, and the government won’t change it one iota.”

Opposition mayor candidate: Only local council autonomy ‘can counterbalance government powers’

opposition mayor candidate

It is only local councils based on the power of local communities that will be able to counterbalance the central government’s concentration of powers, Gergely Karácsony, the main opposition Budapest mayoral candidate, said at a conference on Saturday.

In a lecture given to the Hungarian Solidarity Movement, Karácsony said democratic competition in Hungary only appeared real from afar, and social and political competition “behind the scenes” was notably unbalanced. He said the government’s concentration of powers was virtually impossible to eliminate by political means, so it was safe to say that the current system was a party state.

Karácsony said that in a normal democracy, pro-government mayors braved conflict with the cabinet when necessary in order to protect their local community.

Yet mayors of the ruling Fidesz party, he insisted, dared not speak out against government interests, even if such reticence risked their re-election prospects.

He said that what was at stake in the Oct. 13 municipal election was whether what was left of social autonomy could be safeguarded, and whether citizens succeeded in choosing the leaders who represented their interests.

Karácsony said the opposition should strive to win the elections with a view to promoting the reinvigoration local community self-determination rather than to act as a counterweight to the central government per se.

The opposition mayoral candidate said that right-wing populism was based on manipulating certain lonely and fearful sections of society. The leftwing must demonstrate that municipal politics, harnessing solidarity, are about communities where people are respected and safe, he added.

Local elections – Poll shows Fidesz victory expected even among left-wingers

local elections 2019

Budapest Mayor István Tarlós is expected to be re-elected in the upcoming local elections even among left-wing voters and joint opposition candidate Gergely Karácsony is seen as having no chance of winning, a new poll released by Századvég on Friday showed.

Altogether 74 percent of respondents said they expect Tarlós to win in the October elections and only 16 percent said Karácsony had better chances. Only 3 percent said that Róbert Puzsér can be expected to win and 1 percent said Krisztián Berki would become Budapest mayor, it said.

Around half of left-wing voters or 49 percent said they did not expect Karácsony to win and only 41 percent said the opposite.

Some 60 percent of the people interviewed expressed satisfaction with the job Tarlós has done as Budapest mayor, while 36 percent were dissatisfied. Karácsony’s mayorship of Budapest’s 14th district was rated as satisfactory by 35 percent and 57 percent said the opposite.

Századvég conducted the poll between September 18 and 21 with a sample of 1,000 adults.

Local elections – Karácsony talks threats to his family, state of opposition in leaked audio

opposition mayor candidate

A leaked audio recording has emerged in which opposition candidate Gergely Karácsony for Budapest mayor can be heard talking about threats made against his family and clashes he has had with other opposition politicians, according to news portal 444.hu. Karácsony has confirmed the authenticity of the recording.

In the audio file edited together from separate recordings from a past conversation, Karácsony is heard saying that Csaba Tóth, head of the Socialist Party’s 14th district chapter, had made multiple threats against his family.

Karácsony calls the Socialists’ Csaba Horváth, whom he defeated for the joint opposition mayoral candidacy and is now the opposition mayoral candidate in the 14th district, a “tough one to crack”.

“Unfortunately he’s a rock in this whole construct, more so than anyone else,” Karacsony says of Horváth. “The whole matter of removing him from this thing and convincing him to take part in the primary, that was the consolation.”

Concerning the 14th district local council, Karácsony said only a Socialist politician could keep the Socialist councillors in line. He criticised the party’s previous mayoral candidate there, saying “he would be lost within two minutes and everything would be stolen behind his back”. “At least Csaba [Horváth] has enough brains to know what it is you can go to jail for,” Karácsony can be heard saying.

On the subject of his future, Karácsony says that if he returned to the 14th district, “they’d do me in . I could tell you some stories, but we can’t run joint campaigns with the Socialists”.

He is also heard discussing his “blackmail potential”, saying it could “put everything into place”.

Karácsony also talks about Erzsébet Gy. Németh, the Democratic Coalition’s mayoral candidate in the 17th district, saying that “there’s no threat of her . winning the election.”

Asked by 444 to comment on the recording, Karácsony said the conversation in question had probably taken place “several months ago” and he did not remember who he was talking to. He added, however, that he recognised tactic of leaking the recording as “that of [ruling] Fidesz”.

He said the conversation heard in the recording had centred on the joint opposition election campaign. Though it took a lot of debate to bring the opposition together, “the alliance is now strong”, he said. Karácsony confirmed that he had received threats on multiple occasions, though they had not come from political players.

Asked to comment on what he had meant by his “blackmail potential”, Karácsony said he was not interested in holding any office, but was concerned with fighting for issues.

Karácsony later told a press conference that he will file a criminal complaint over the recording and leaking of his conversation. He said the recording had been edited and “clearly made illegally”.

He said Fidesz was “so afraid of a united opposition and of losing its power” that it was now “using secret service techniques” against him. Karácsony insisted that he would not be intimidated, nor would the unity of the opposition parties be broken. He insisted that he does not say anything in the leaked recording that he had not talked about before in public.

Socialist Party MEP István Újhelyi said Karácsony was the victim of the kind of smear tactics that had been used against political opponents in single-party states. He speculated that this was being done in response to Karacsony’s calls for a debate between Budapest mayoral candidates. Rather than agreeing to a debate, “we’re seeing a dirty political smear campaign”, he said.

Újhelyi said it had become clear that Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and incumbent Budapest Mayor István Tarlós “are afraid of Karacsony”.

Local elections – Joint opposition protest held in support of mayoral candidate

oppsition demonstration

Opposition parties held a joint demonstration on Friday evening to express support for District 8 mayoral candidate András Pikó and his campaign team who have been accused of unlawful data handling.

Opposition mayoral candidate for Budapest Gergely Karácsony asked participants gathered in Práter Street not to allow “the most honourable politicians” to be subjected to false accusations. Those in power are attacking people who are least used to this, he said.

Pikó and his team are all excellent people and their strength comes from the strong community they represent, he added.

Pikó said ruling Fidesz had no genuine arguments and that’s why they had launched a smear campaign and sent police against their opponents.

The demonstration was addressed by Socialist lawmaker Ágnes Kunhalmi, Democratic Coalition’s District 17 mayoral candidate Erzsébet Németh Gy and Momentum MEP Anna Donáth. The protest was also attended by politicians of LMP and the Hungarian Liberal Party.

Fidesz group leader Máté Kocsis said on Monday that the opposition in District 8 had handled the personal data of voters unlawfully.

He cited a report in Monday’s edition of daily Magyar Nemzet showing photographs that allegedly prove that candidates of the opposition alliance had prepared unlawful lists based on voter recommendation slips.

Commenting on the Magyar Nemzet report, Pikó’s campaign chief insisted that the candidate’s campaign had been carried out in line with Hungarian and European data protection regulations. In a statement, Tessza Udvarhelyi denied that the unlawful collection of data had taken place.

Local elections – Karácsony: Voters have chance for change in their locality

oppsition mayor candidate

By supporting joint candidates of the opposition parties in the October local elections, voters will have a chance to change the future course of their area, Gergely Karácsony, the left-liberal opposition candidate for mayor of Budapest, said on Friday.

The government has damaged health care, education and social care over the past nine years, Karácsony told a press conference.

“We want local governments to have a chance to repair the damage and become islands not only of freedom but of solidarity as well”, he said.

Karácsony said the opposition wanted a fairer and greener policy in the municipalities based on solidarity.

He said that as mayor of the Zugló district of Budapest he was proud of the social model established there, and it figured in every opposition party’s programme in terms of providing a national solution.

Bertalan Tóth, leader of the Socialist Party, said the main aim of the election campaign was to replace the “little kings” of the ruling Fidesz party.

He noted that as well as opposition collaboration in the capital, the opposition has agreed to cooperate on candidates in 21 county seats and in 89 localities with over 10,000 residents.

Tóth said locals had a democratic right to self-government, so the opposition wants to establish a new framework for dialogue in local governments. Employee representatives should be given the chance to help the municipality form its economic development concepts, he added.

Tóth underlined the importance of a free media and freedom of expression, and he said priority areas for left-wing local governments would be social services, education and climate protection.

Answering a question, Karácsony said that once the opposition had handed in the supporting signatures of voters, they would refrain from collecting any further signatures.

Karácsony insisted that the central government only took money away from Budapest rather than ploughing funds into it, and the city had provided a big windfall of capital to the central government over the last nine years, while the city’s debts amounted to 150 billion forints (EUR 455m).

Noting that the EU is expected to allow direct financing of municipalities in the next cycle, he said the measure would provide a great opportunity to finance the capital.

Zugló, Karácsony said, had won direct EU funding worth 2 billion forints to build affordable housing. He added that he was proud the district had made nearly 7 billion forints worth of improvements using its own resources. Almost all kindergartens have been partially or completely renovated, and this is true of district public parks too, he said.

On the controversial subject of parking arrangements in his district for which he has received strong criticism, Karácsony said Zugló had voted for a manifesto that included establishing pay zones, explaining that parking had not been available in the district. After teething problems, a parking system has now been created that is expected to produce revenue of 1 million forints a day. He noted that today, residents can park free of charge in their own neighborhood. At the next council meeting, it will be decided how to move forward on the issue of parking, he said.

Local election – Karácsony’s campaign curtain-raiser: ‘Let Budapest be green and free!’

opposition mayor candidate

Gergely Karácsony, the left-liberal opposition candidate for mayor of Budapest, opened his campaign on Saturday in the capital city with a speech calling for Budapest to be “green and free at last”.

Karácsony called on his followers “to take Budapest back from the hands of the privileged and return the city to its true owners, Budapest’s residents.”

He promised that after the election Budapest residents would win back the capital’s money and self-esteem, and build a green city based on solidarity.

He declared: “Let us say proudly … that I, too, am a Budapester!”

Liberals support main opposition candidate for Budapest mayor

opposition mayor candidate

Hungary’s Liberal Party on Thursday announced that it would support Gergely Karácsony, the joint Budapest mayoral candidate of the Socialist, Párbeszéd and Democratic Coalition (DK) parties, in the municipal election scheduled for October 13.

“Apart from Karácsony, merely pro-Fidesz candidates have remained in contention for the post,” Ádám Sermer, the liberals’ former candidate, told a press conference in front of the Parliament.

Karácsony said that the “multicoloured camp of those wanting change in Budapest” has now become “complete and even more colourful”.

Voters who want change in the city have now one candidate to vote for while those satisfied with the current situation can vote for either Fidesz candidate István Tarlós or other candidates backed by the ruling party, Karacsony said.

Karácsony presented the opposition’s mayoral candidates in Budapest districts. DK’s Erzsébet Németh Gy, running for mayor in district 17, noted that the talks with the liberals had been initiated by her party.

Socialist Kata Tutto, the opposition’s joint mayoral candidate for district 5, said she would make the district in the city centre climate neutral within 15 years.

She vowed to fight depopulation, saying that while the city is riddled with a housing crisis and exorbitant rents, properties in the district function as hotels or stand empty.

“If nothing changes, the heart of the city will become an empty, filthy jungle of ornamental stone”, she said.

Opposition introduces 21st district mayoral candidate

mayor candidate 21 district

Budapest’s 21st district is in need of development schemes that will better the lives of its residents, Gergely Karácsony, the opposition’s joint candidate for Budapest mayor, said on Friday, introducing the opposition’s local mayoral candidate.

The district needs more green areas rather than “the buildings of a creeping Olympics” or a wrestling arena, Karácsony told a press conference.

“It’s not Szilárd Némeths but leaders who will help the local community that are needed,” he said, referring to the local leader of the ruling party.

Karácsony said the autumn local election was not just about the race between Fidesz and the opposition parties, but also about “taking the city back together”.

Éva Erdősi, the local candidate, said she wanted to be a mayor for all of the district’s residents. She said the locals were tired of being called “the capital’s poorest district”, insisting that this had to change.

In a statement, Németh said that efforts in the past two municipal cycles had helped the district to be “constructive, pay off its debts, and focus on children”, adding that the opposition would “again destroy” the district if its candidates won power in the upcoming election.

Németh insisted that the district’s earlier, leftist management had been characterised by “corruption, amassed debt to the tune of billions of forints, the looting of public assets, paedophilic acts by a Socialist deputy, and infighting verging on murder”.

Németh also said that “not too long ago Karácsony thought that district 21 was a part of northern Budapest” and insisted that the candidate was “completely unknown” to local residents.

Six opposition parties to field joint candidates in Budapest election

opposition municipal election

The opposition Socialist, Párbeszéd, DK, Jobbik, LMP and Momentum parties have agreed to field joint candidates in all 23 districts of Budapest for the upcoming municipal elections, Gergely Karácsony, Budapest mayor candidate of the Socialist-Párbeszéd alliance, told a press conference on Friday.

Signatories to the agreement will support a single candidate in each district to challenge the nominee of ruling Fidesz, Karácsony said. They have “learnt the lesson that if we are divided Fidesz always wins”, he said, adding that they have “left grievances behind and come together in an effort to make Budapest a freer, fairer and greener city again”.

Voters in the opposition primary have demonstrated that they want to see unity between the opposition parties and their cooperative effort will “meet the desire of voters and reinstate Budapest to its residents,” Karácsony said.

The cooperating parties will need to launch a fitting campaign to mobilise voters, Karácsony said.

“There will be no vacation, no silly season; there will be work, lots of work,” he insisted.

Erzsébet Gy. Németh, municipal representative of the Democratic Coalition (DK), said that “Budapest deserves more than it has had in the past nine years” and expressed support for the cooperation as well as for Karácsony’s candidacy for Budapest mayor.

Momentum board member Miklós Hajnal said that the agreement required “humility and sacrifice” from participants, adding that hopefully their efforts would “result in a team aiming to expose all graft cases”.

Nationalist Jobbik’s Budapest leader János Bencsik said his party supported cooperation because “Jobbik has opted for a multiparty system rather than a single-party regime now being restored.”

He said that the dividing line was not between right and left but between “supporters and servants of autocracy” and “those committed to the rule of law and democracy”.

Green LMP executive Máté Kanász-Nagy said his party had joined the cooperation to facilitate a green programme for the city. It would involve protecting and increasing green areas, resolving issues along the River Danube in northern Budapest, reducing traffic and improving public transport, he said.

Karácsony wins opposition preselection for Budapest mayor

opposition mayor candidate

Gergely Karácsony, the Budapest mayoral candidate of the Socialist-Párbeszéd alliance, has won the preselection process organised by some opposition parties ahead of the autumn local election, György Magyar, head of the committee coordinating the ballot, said in Budapest on Wednesday.

The second round of the preselection process was held between June 20 and 26. Fully 68,240 Budapest residents participated.

Karácsony garnered 33,355 votes.

Fully 25,093 voters supported Olga Kálmán, the leftist Democratic Coalition’s candidate, while 9,792 voted for Momentum’s Gabor Kerpel-Fronius.

At a joint press conference with Kerpel-Fronius and party leaders, Karácsony said the “era of rivalry within the opposition” has ended. They will look forward and work together to change Budapest, he said.

Karácsony said Kálmán and Kerpel-Fronius would have important roles to play in his campaign. Tasks ahead include setting up a campaign team and reaching agreements on candidates in Budapest’s 23 districts, in cooperation with the other parties, he said.

Congratulating Karácsony, Kerpel-Fronius said he would “definitely” defeat incumbent mayor István Tarlós in the October municipal elections.

DK parliamentary group leader Zsolt Greczy said DK accepts the outcome of the preselection and will not field another candidate to challenge Karácsony. He vowed that DK would fight “shoulder to shoulder with the others” to defeat Tarlós.

Socialist leaders Bertalan Tóth called the preselection process a “celebration of democracy”. In order to work changes in Budapest and “restore Budapest residents’ liberty”, opposition parties must refrain from rivalry, he warned.

Tímea Szabó, the co-leader of the Párbeszéd party along with Karácsony, said that hopefully the opposition parties who participated in the preselection process can work as a team with the citizens to “free Budapest from Fidesz captivity”.

Second round of left-wing mayoral candidate preselection gets under way

opposition mayor candidates

The second round of voting in the preselection of the left-wing opposition candidate for mayor of Budapest got under way on Thursday.

Registered voters can choose from among Gergely Karácsony of the Socialist-Párbeszéd alliance, Momentum’s Gábor Kerpel-Fronius, and independent Olga Kálmán, backed by the leftist Democratic Coalition (DK), with the winning candidate challenging incumbent Mayor István Tarlós in the autumn municipal election. Voting ends on July 26.

Karácsony told a press conference that the preselection was generating “a huge amount of interest” among voters.

The mayor of Budapest’s 14th district said he expects the second-round turnout to exceed the turnout of over 34,000 voters in the first round held at the beginning of the year.

In a pitch to voters, Karácsony said “every poll” showed that he was the one with the best chance of beating Tarlós, pointing out his experience as district mayor. He said it had been made clear both in last year’s general election and in this year’s EP election that most Budapest residents wanted change.

In response to a question, Karácsony said that though the opposition candidates agreed on many of the issues, his platform was “greener” and contained “more solidarity” than those of his rivals.

Responding to another question, he vowed to support the winning candidate “1,000 percent” if he lost the preselection.

Political parties comment 2020 budget bill – UPDATE

parliament

The government’s 2020 budget proposal includes “exceptionally large” family support funds, ruling Fidesz’s budget spokesman Erik Bánki said in the general debate of the bill on Wednesday.

Hungarian government submits 2020 budget bill to parliament

Fidesz

“This budget is not only for Hungarian families and businesses, it will also improve the lives of all Hungarians,” Banki said, highlighting tax cuts, less red tape and increased subsidies. He also noted that the bill aimed at covering public-sector spending from revenues.

The proposal “is fully in line with the goals and expectations of the Fidesz group,” he said.

Jobbik

The opposition Jobbik party’s Dániel Z. Kárpát insisted that the bill would benefit certain groups while providing nothing to others.

He said

Hungarians that had been “forced” to leave Hungary to find jobs in other counties.

A housing programme is needed so people returning to Hungary will not spend years saving up for a home, he said.

Z. Kárpát also criticised the government for failing to provide a final account of the previous budget, which he said would make hinder decisions on allocations for next year’s budget.

Socialists

According to the Socialists, the bill “is unjust and anti-future”. Socialist leader Bertalan Tóth said the government sought to “redistribute” some 2,200 billion forints, the difference between this year’s revenues and those of 2020, and “spend it on itself and associated circles” rather than on efforts to help the country close the gap with its neighbours.

The Socialists propose that 1,000 billion forints or more should be re-allocated to pensions, education, health, and welfare services, Tóth said.

He added that welfare services alone required 764 billion forints more than the proposed budget allocation.

Tóth insisted that the family benefit and maternity allowances “gyed” and “gyes” had not been raised since 2008 and he called for the former to be doubled and the other two tripled.

Democratic Coalition

The Democratic Coalition (DK) said the bill reflected an effort to “do nothing, continue political propaganda and to simply survive”. DK leader Ferenc Gyurcsány said there was no “meaningful professional or civil control” over the budgeting process, adding that the proposal reflected Fidesz’s “reluctance” to introduce the euro in Hungary.

Gyurcsány criticised

the government’s family policy, saying it went in the “wrong direction” and would yield “no positive results”. “We disagree with you from A to Z. And not just a bit. Very much,” he added.

LMP

Green opposition LMP’s Antal Csárdi accused the ruling parties of wanting to exploit the present. He criticised the government for cutting spending on education, environmental protection and the fight against climate change while giving more money to multinational corporations.

He said

the bill failed to address Hungary’s wage, housing and climate crises and would not help single-parent families, forex debtors or young people starting out in life.

Neither will the budget improve health care, education or the situation of pensioners, he added.

Párbeszéd

Opposition Párbeszéd called the bill a “sham”, saying that the health-care budget would barely change from this year’s while education would be “the biggest loser”. Párbeszéd MP Tímea Szabó said her party rejected the bill and would submit a comprehensive amendment proposal to it.

Tamás Mellár, another Párbeszéd lawmaker, said the Fiscal Council was wrong when it said the foundations of the Hungarian economy were stable. He said Hungary had a growth potential of 1-2 percent, which was being “propped up” to 4 percent. Mellar said that though this growth rate was sustainable, Hungary was headed towards a “dead end” and coming back from there would be painful.

Opposition parties hoping for high turnout at mayoral preselection

mayoral election

A recent plenary debate between opposition candidates for the post of Budapest mayor has “mobilised residents” and “will hopefully contribute to high turnout” in the second round of the preselection, Gergely Karácsony, candidate of the Socialist-Párbeszéd party alliance, told a press conference on Saturday.

Such public debates, he said, could greatly contribute to “restoring the weathered spirit of democracy to Hungary”. In a democracy “candidates trust one another’s good intentions, they trust that the others seek to develop the city rather than destroy it and they strive to settle issues in open debates”, he said.

Karácsony insisted that losing contenders in the pre-election must support the winner, no matter who it is.

He added that he would do so, and would expect the others to support him afterwards should he win.

Friday’s debate was attended by Karácsony, Gábor Kerpel-Fronius (Momentum) and Olga Kálmán (independent, supported by the Democratic Coalition).

Opposition LMP’s Budapest organisation on Saturday agreed to support the winner of the opposition’s pre-election in the upcoming mayoral election, under an agreement with the opposition Momentum, Socialist and Párbeszéd parties.

In return for LMP’s gesture, the three other parties will support one LMP candidate in each of the city’s districts, the executive added.

Further cooperation talks will be coordinated by a three-strong committee from LMP’s side, Kanász-Nagy said.

EP elections – Socialists-Párbeszéd: Result ‘failure’

mszp socialists

The leader of the Socialist Party called the result of Sunday’s European Parliament election “a failure” for the opposition.

Bertalan Tóth, who was the Socialist-Párbeszéd alliance’s list leader, noted at a press conference that the two parties’ joint campaign had resulted in a single mandate. However, the party’s board has decided unanimously to press ahead with the autumn local elections without any changes, he said.

He insisted that in many localities in which opposition election deals were already in place, today’s results suggested that opposition cooperation could unseat Fidesz.

“This is a responsibility that the Socialist leadership undertakes, and it will not resign,” he added.

Toth said he would not take over his EP mandate, and the party board would decide on Saturday who should receive it.

EP election – Orbán hails ‘record victory amid record turnout’

What would Hungarian parties like to do in the European Parliament? – part 1

European Parliament building

Hungarians as a whole are referred to in the European press as if they wanted to destroy the European Union. However, of course, there are several parties with different thoughts about shaping the future of the EU. Government parties see May 26 as an opportunity to take control over the European Commission and Parliament while opposition parties regard it as an important milestone in defeating government parties in the local elections this fall. We collected you the most important messages of the Hungarian parties for the next EU term. Part 1.

Hungarian Socialist Party (MSZP)

2014 result: 252,751 votes, 10.9 pc, 2 seats

Politico.eu prognosis for 2019: 11 pc, 3 seats

In fact, politico.eu’s prognosis regards the current EP list with the Dialogue party which got the fourth place on the list; however, the first one belongs to MSZP party leader Bertalan Tóth who is not expected to continue his work in Brussels.

MSZP published a rather long party program in which they declare that the 2019 European Parliamentary elections should attract as many European Democrats as possible and show a red card to the Orbán-regime. Therefore, they would like to empower the EU with means

enabling Brussels to stand up for the protection of commonly agreed principles

like media freedom of checks and balances.

Instead of supporting a two-speed Europe which would push some Member States to the periphery, they say that the EU should invest in the people. For example, they would like to establish a

European minimum wage and pension,

uniform EU unemployment insurance scheme or introduce a European Labour Code. 

They would like to spend EU funds available for the 2021-2027 period on the development of the education and the health care system instead of on developing infrastructure. Moreover, the Socialist would join the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) without delay and would work to introduce the euro as soon as possible in Hungary. Furthermore,

they would stop the payment of subsidies to those Member States

where the allocation of resources is not functioning properly due to the inadequate functioning of the rule of law and prosecution.

Regarding defence, they would reinforce Frontex because according to them, it is wrong to assume that the European Member States alone can respond to the challenges threatening global peace and Europe.

Finally, they stand for the autonomy of the ethnical minorities of the European Union.

Benedek Jávor, MEP of the Socialist-ally Dialogue said in an interview that Fidesz does not have a road back to the family of the moderate political parties. Therefore, the question on

May 26 is whether nationalist and populist forces can destroy the EU or not.

He highlighted that the migrant crisis was not solved by governments but by the EU itself and the relevant agreement signed with Turkey. He believes that it is a realistic goal of the Hungarian opposition to prevent Fidesz from having more MEPs than it had in 2014 (12).

Democratic Coalition (DK)

2014 result: 226,086 votes, 9.75 pc, new

Politico.eu prognosis for 2019: 8.89 pc, 2 seats.

HVG did an interview with the leader of the party’s EP list, Klára Dobrev who is the wife of party president and former PM Ferenc Gyurcsány who is the most popular candidate in Hungary with a 24 pc support. She highlighted that it is a real danger that because of PM Viktor Orbán’s policies and decisions Hungary can lose all EU allocations; therefore, she thinks that the next 1-2 years will be crucial for Hungary.

According to her, they would like to create a

European minimum wage, minimum pension and family allowance.

She stressed that these are now the most critical questions of Europe. Since German social democrats and French President Macron talk about these issues, she would like to find further allies to realise these goals. According to Dobrev, the source of such allocations would be a common European tax paid by multinational companies reaching 150-200 million EUR annually.

Talking about the sum of a possible European minimum wage and pension, the Democratic Coalition thinks that it would be different in the countries. However, the European family allowance would be uniform in each member state.

Campaigning with the plan of establishing the United States of Europe, Democratic Coalition would support initiatives binding EU funds and the acceptance of the rule of law. Furthermore, they think that

Independent bodies should distribute EU money

and thus, allocations should be given directly to the applicants.

Momentum Movement (MM)

2014 result: the party was founded in 2017

Politico.eu prognosis for 2019: 4.77 pc, 0 seats

According to Katalin Cseh, leader of the party’s EU list, said in an interview that regarding the European parliament elections she hopes that Fidesz will get fewer seats than the opposition and his party will receive at least one seat in the European Parliament. Based on politico.eu’s prognosis, this goal is not totally impossible.

Regarding her plans, she said that the essential task of the new European Parliament is to create an attractive alternative to stop the rise of populist and nationalist forces aiming to weaken Europe. She highlighted that they have to stand up against Hungarian PM Viktor Orbán and his allies.

They would like the EU to spend much

more money on healthcare, education and the rise of wages

because these are the basis of a welfare state. She would support the idea that only those EU member states should distribute EU money that respects the rule of law. In the case of those countries that go against such shared values, the EU should directly distribute the cohesion funds.

They do not support the idea of creating a United States of Europe, but they want the EU to solve massive problems like wage differences with its next budget (2021-2027). They plan to become part of the ALDE parliamentary group in the next EP term, and they believe that the

protection of the borders should be a joint EU competence.

Therefore, they would like to create a stronger Frontex, common European border protection and more effective cooperation between secret services.

Socialist-Párbeszéd: Orbán risking Hungary EU membership

jávor ep

Prime Minister Viktor Orbán is “writing himself out of Europe” and risking Hungary’s EU membership in the process, Socialist MEP István Ujhelyi told a press conference on Wednesday.

Ujhelyi called Orbán “the greatest weathervane in political history” who leaves his pro-Europe, right-wing, conservative political family to become a leader of a “neo-Fascist, Eurosceptic circle.”

Ujhelyi said that Orbán’s illiberal system is incompatible with European values and Hungary’s membership of the bloc. Hungarians, including the voters of the ruling Fidesz party, want to stay in the EU, he said.

Benedek Jávor, an MEP candidate of the Párbeszéd party, said that

Orbán is about to officially join a “European far-right, populist, Eurosceptic” group.

Europe will actually benefit from having all those wanting to dismantle European cooperation “in the same basket”, Jávor said.

This also means that in the future, the government will be unable to stand up for Hungarian’s interests at European forums; one more reason to have as many opposition MEPs in Brussels as possible, he said.

Ruling Fidesz said in response that Europe and the EU are “being written out of history” by the Socialists and other “pro-migration” parties who back the “plans of Brussels and American financier George Soros to flood Europe with migrants”. Migration endangers Europe, its citizens’ security and the future of their children, the party said in a statement.