Ministers sacked from board seats of uni foundations – opposition reactions
The opposition Socialists, Párbeszéd and DK welcomed on Thursday the government’s decision to withdraw ministers from the boards of asset management foundations of universities.
The parties also called for stricter rules on conflict of interest. In reaction to head of the Prime Minister’s Office Gergely Gulyás’s announcement concerning the university foundations made at a government press briefing earlier in the day, Socialist lawmaker István Hiller said the success of talks with the European Union hinged on the decision to withdraw the relevant board members, so the government was left with little choice in the matter. He noted that the Socialists had never supported the transfer of state-run universities to foundations, calling it “an attempt by power holders to occupy” academia. Meanwhile, standards in higher education were not improving, he added.
Párbeszéd said in a statement that by withdrawing ministers, the government had admitted that the foundations set up from taxpayers’ money “purely served to steal public assets and maintain direct political control”. The party called on the government to approve a proposal by lawmaker Tamás Mellár concerning rules on conflict of interest and restore universities’ full autonomy, independence and transparent operations.
DK’s Balázs Barkóczi, the shadow minister for education and culture, also called on the government to approve the proposal on stricter conflict-of-interest regulations and exclude from university boards “all politicians, state and local council leaders, and other commissioners with political links, as well as their family members and people with whom they share any business interests.”
Debrecen’s new battery plant will have brutal high water consumption?
The Fidesz leadership of Hungary’s second biggest city started a counter-offensive against the protesters demonstrating against Chinese CATL’s new battery manufacturing plant.
The protesters say the new plant, which will be Europe’s biggest, will have an incredibly high water consumption. They talk about 40 thousand cubic metres, while the leaders of Debrecen state that it will not be higher than 25 thousand. However, an analysis appeared on the website of the local government officials saying that the new facility will need an even higher amount of water, more than 60 thousand cubic metres. However, the analysis disappeared in days. The local government said the expert conducting it made a mistake, but locals do not believe the explanation because the paper impacting the investment badly vanished so quickly, 24.hu wrote.
Drought was severe in Hungary last summer, and experts project the situation will only worsen. Therefore, residents are afraid they would lose their precious water source because the Chinese company will use it. Others argue that they will pollute the water.
László Papp, Debrecen’s mayor, visited CATL’s plant in Germany, highlighting that the investment would not bring any harm to the municipality. However, locals say the factory in Germany is much smaller than the planned one in Debrecen. Furthermore, the German authorities enforce all environment protection rules, while their Hungarian counterparts failed to do so in Göd, where the South Korean Samsung built an immense factory. Thus, tensions will remain in the city. And that is just the beginning. It seems that all Hungarian opposition parties will concentrate on Debrecen in the following weeks. For example, Momentum Movement announced they would redirect their efforts to Debrecen instead of the Hungarian Parliament.
Opposition party turns to top court over battery plant regulations
The opposition Párbeszéd party is appealing to the Constitutional Court in connection with battery plant regulations. “[Ruling party] Fidesz is intent on turning the country into a battery superpower,” the party’s co-leader, Rebeka Szabó, told a streamed press briefing on Friday. The plants use up water resources and electricity while harming environment with toxic substances, she said, adding that they “don’t comply with occupational health and safety regulations”.
Referring to the law on priority investments and a government decree published on Thursday, which provides exemptions in the case of zoning regulations, she said Párbeszéd accused the government of easing regulations so Asian multinationals “don’t have to take the environment or workers’ rights into consideration”.
Read alsoChaos around battery plants in Hungary
Europe’s greatest battery plant in Debrecen criticized by locals, opposition – UPDATED
Opposition Párbeszéd is proposing a day of debate in parliament dedicated to the government strategy for battery production and the building of battery plants.
Party group leader Tímea Szabó told an online press conference on Tuesday that the day of debate would be an excellent opportunity for the government to “reveal its true colours” on the issue, present its arguments for the building of battery plants, and inform the public about it.
She added that Párbeszéd, as a green party, is firmly against the building of more battery plants. Hungary should instead progress towards the transition to a green economy, she said.
Several local organisations have been protesting against the plan. People spoke out against it on public forums and took part in demonstrations. However, the mayor and the Fidesz majority of the local government would stick to the original plan. According to Helló Vidék, the plant of the Chinese CATL will be Europe’s greatest. Experts say that the legal framework and the environmental protection rules are the same as in Germany. But authorities did not implement them in Hungary, just like that happened in the case of the Samsung manufacturer in Göd, where they did not measure pollution as prescribed.
- Read also: Government official says debate over Debrecen battery factory is not about environmental protection
Debrecen mayor: Chinese battery maker’s Germany plant complies with all regulations
Chinese battery maker CATL is operating its plant in Arnstadt, in central Germany, with maximum compliance with all regulations, the mayor of Debrecen where the company plans to build a plant said after returning from a visit on Tuesday. The Debrecen City Hall cited Laszlo Papp, of ruling Fidesz-KDNP, in a statement as saying that they had not seen any source of danger during the visit. Papp and deputy mayor for economic development Lajos Barcs, also of Fidesz-KDNP, were showed around by CATL director general Jason Chen and European director Matthias Zentgraf in the plant which was opened last week and which uses the same technology as the plant to be built in Debrecen.
Papp said they saw in the Thuringian city a flagship project of European green transition. “The plant represents the highest technological standards of the 21st century,” he said. “We have seen no polluting materials or sources of hazard whatsoever, and the plant operated at maximum compliance with German safety and labour protections requirements,” he said. The Hungarian officials also met Arnstadt Mayor Frank Spilling.
“Europe is clearly building on battery production in terms of the green transition which will determine its future,” the City Hall said citing Papp. “It is no accident that German politicians, including left-wing and green politicians, unanimously view the CATL plant in Arnstadt as a flagship project”, he added.
Read alsoBattery plant construction protested against in Hungary
Opposition parties demand higher wage hike for Hungarian teachers
The opposition Democratic Coalition (DK) and LMP parties on Saturday demanded an at least 45 percent immediate increase of teachers’ wages, criticising the government’s planned increase.
The interior ministry overseeing education said late on Friday that the government had earmarked 67.6 billion forints (EUR 167m) temporarily in central funding for giving teachers a 10 percent wage hike until Hungary receives EU funding it is entitled to. The wages of teachers is planned to be increased gradually over the next three years, the ministry said in a statement. Once Hungary receives the EU funding, those wages will be increased by 21 percent instead of 10 percent next year, by 25 percent in 2024 and by 29-30 percent in 2025, it said.
In a statement, DK said that “After Interior Minister Sándor Pintér, the police general ordered to discipline rebelling schools, lectured and intimidated teachers at their recent meeting held behind closed doors, came as a next step the Orbán government’s punishment: some adjustment to the teacher’s wage allowance instead of a wage increase”. DK called the measure “humiliating”, arguing that the inflation caused by the Orban regime “devalues teachers’ wages dramatically” which will lead to teachers’ leaving their jobs in large numbers.
LMP said that the interior minister “does not take notice of the teachers’ problems and does not even understand the current situation”. The party demanded an at least 45 percent wage increase, insisting that a shortage of teachers due to low wages would jeopardise the future of education.
The Párbeszéd party called the increase announced “humiliating and deceptive”, arguing that because of inflation, wages next year “would be worth a lot less”.
The party said in a statement that the government should stop “pointing a finger at the EU over unlocked funding”, noting that state secretary Bence Rétvári “had recently admitted in parliament that 85-90 percent of the wage increase for teachers should be covered from state coffers”.
Read alsoVIDEO: teachers booed the minister for education before consultation
Opposition party believes Orbán conducts an irrational war against Brussels
The opposition Párbeszéd party on Friday slammed government policy, saying the “irrational war with Brussels is threatening Hungary’s fundamental stability.”
Although the European Commission’s proposal to withhold funding worth 3000 billion forints (EUR 7.3bn) is “not necessarily equivalent to the scrapping of the funds”, the delay will cause “grave problems in the budget”, he said.
The approval of Hungary’s recovery plan means merely that the 2,000 billion forints allocated for the purpose “are not lost forever”. The proposal will have to be adopted by the member states at a meeting on Dec. 6, he added. That vote will come after decisions on two topics the Hungarian government has earlier threatened to veto, the aid to Ukraine and the matter of the corporate minimum tax, he said.
“If those mutual threats are be implemented, it will hurt Hungary immeasurably more,” he said.
Opposition parties slam Orban remarks on sanctions, energy supplies
Opposition parties have criticised Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s statements on European Union sanctions against Russia, energy supplies and aid for Ukraine, in his regular interview with public broadcaster Kossuth Rádió on Friday. Conservative Jobbik said that Orbán had “lost sight of reality”, noting that the prime minister had voted in favour of all sanctions against Russia in the EU. At the same time, Orbán failed to address the fact that Hungarian food price growth had outstripped all other European countries’ and that the forint had plunged into record depths in the autumn. The government “has cancelled the utility price cut scheme and is causing a shortage economy with its price caps harking back to the communist era,” the party said. Meanwhile, “Hungary and Hungarians are stripped of the EU monies they are entitled to, because of Viktor Orbán and his government,” Jobbik said.
Momentum leader Ferenc Gelencsér, reacting to Orban’s statement that “Hungarians have understood that, whether they like it or not, Ukraine needs support”, said Hungarian society had taken a “humane and fair” approach to Ukrainians and Transcarpathia Hungarians. “It was not the government but civil organisations, which the government has been persecuting for years, who took the lion’s share in helping people fleeing Ukraine and those staying in their homeland,” he said.
Read alsoEvidence found about an illegal Chinese police station in Budapest
LMP said that contrary to what Orbán said, Russian gas was not cheap and “the prime minister said himself that the long-term contract concluded with Russia last year was no guarantee for secure supplies.” The solution would be a green transition, the party said.
Ruling Fidesz responded by saying that “the pro-war and pro-sanction stance” of the left-wing opposition parties “threaten Hungary”. They would sacrifice Hungary’s security and energy supply in exchange for “rolling foreign dollars”, the party said in a statement. The left-wing parties continue to lobby for sanctions by Brussels which will destroy Europe and threaten the Hungarian economy and the livelihood of Hungarian families, it said.
PHOTOS: Hungarian President met with leader of Hungarians living in Ukraine
President Katalin Novák met László Brenzovics, head of the Transcarpathian Hungarian Cultural Association (KMKSZ), at the presidential Sándor Palace on Wednesday. Brenzovics told public media after the meeting that he and Novák had discussed the situation of Transcarpathia and the ethnic Hungarians living there, among other things.
Because of the war between Russia and Ukraine, Transcarpathia faces a very difficult winter and will need support and solidarity for a long time to come, Brenzovics said. The KMKSZ said he had thanked Novák for the care, solidarity and support she had shown to Transcarpathian Hungarians.
Brenzovics noted that Hungary was undertaking “one of the largest humanitarian aid operations” in its history in connection with the war. Transcarpathian Hungarians have received a lot of support, and the president herself has supported local orphanages, he added. Though Transcarpathia is far from the frontlines, the economic crisis, the power outages and air raid warnings have an effect on the lives of ethnic Hungarians, too, Brenzovics said.
He added that the Hungarian government was supporting all areas of local life, including doctors, teachers, infrastructure investments, public institutions, and was also sending medicine and food. Without all this, the lives of the locals would be “far worse”, he said, adding they were hoping that the war would end as soon as possible and life could return to normal.
Below you may find some photos:
Read alsoRussian tourists expelled from a Hungarian hotel because of their nationality?
Opposition Párbeszéd calls on president not to sign legislation ‘on selling off protected areas’
The opposition Párbeszéd has called on President Katalin Novák not to sign into law legislation which they said allowed the privatisation of areas under nature protection, regardless of environmental considerations. Párbeszéd co-leader Rebeka Szabó told a press conference on Wednesday that Fidesz’s two-thirds majority had voted to adopt a number of proposals that ran afoul of the Fundamental Law.
Should Novák sign the legislation, Parbeszed will turn to the Constitutional Court, Szabó said. The court has in previous decisions banned any further measures curbing nature protection, she said. “It seems clear that for the Fidesz government, economic interests come before environmental protection,” she said.
Read alsoFormer Hungarian President: Money must be found to solve problems caused by climate crisis
Párbeszéd: Orbán cabinet to shore up its finances by privatising protected nature sites
The government’s proposed amendments to legislation on the management of government-owned assets is tantamount to “selling out” protected nature sites, the co-leader of the opposition Párbeszéd party told an online press conference on Tuesday.
Rebeka Szabó insisted that the cash-strapped cabinet was trying to shore up its finances by privatising protected nature sites.
Although the law stipulates that the new owner should maintain the protected status of those areas, “the government has dismantled nature protection authorities” to the point where they will not be able to enforce the law, Szabó said. Further, the authorities are under the supervision of government offices, making them easy target for “some government-linked, Fidesz oligarch who wants to put pressure on them,” she added.
Párbeszéd is looking into turning to the Constitutional Court over the matter, she said.
The minister of economic development said earlier this month that the government was submitting a bill to ensure that the state continues to own assets that are critical to its core functions and to sell cost-generating assets that are peripheral to its essential activities. The current bill is aimed at strengthening the position of the state asset manager Magyar Nemzeti Vagyonkezelő and creating a unified, centralised system for the legal exercise of real estate ownership, Márton Nagy said.
Párbeszéd: more time is needed to discuss anti-corruption bills
Parbeszéd is opposed to debating bills submitted by the government related to the debate over the rule of law in an expedited procedure, the head of the parliamentary group of the opposition party said on Sunday.
At an online press conference, Tímea Szabó said the position of her party is clear: “Hungary and the Hungarian people must get their EU support, and no opposition party politician can support the notion that that money doesn’t get to the people”. She added that Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has “known very well for years” that Hungary has “not abided by the EU Treaties and failed to follow EU values and principles”.
“The prime minister has done nothing more for twelve years than to steal EU monies using his own strawmen,” Szabó said. She called out the government for “waiting till the last minute” to submit the rule-of-law bills, which “should have been debated since the summer”, and said that opposition parties would get just 20 minutes to speak in the expedited procedure.
Read alsoGyurcsány’s party demands ending ‘cheap Hungarian labour’ policy
She added that the November 19 deadline for addressing the European Commission’s concerns with the bills would offer enough time to debate them “over several days”.
Szabó called on the government to add to the agenda a package of anti-corruption legislation submitted by Párbeszéd to lawmakers during the week that “genuinely ensures EU monies won’t disappear and corruption is brought to light”.
Read alsoOpposition Párbeszéd proposes setting up anti-corruption prosecutor’s office
DK submitting bill to lawmakers to ‘restore rule of law’
DK is submitting a package of legislation to parliament that aims to “restore the rule of law”, the deputy head of the opposition party’s parliamentary group told MTI on Sunday. Gergely Arató said in a statement that the Orbán government had “dismantled” the democratic Hungarian rule of law “that still functioned before 2010”, adding that is “one of the reasons” Hungary hasn’t accessed its European Union funding.
DK’s package of legislation is a “guarantee” of the restoration of the rule of law, one that EU leaders won’t see as “posturing in the hope of getting money that can be stolen”, he said. The package would have Hungary join the European Public Prosecutor’s Office, make the courts and the prosecutor general politically independent, modify the “restricted operation” of the Constitutional Court and restore “balanced information and freedom of the press”, he added.
The proposed law would also allow officials appointed “in a manner not in line with the rule of law” to be recalled, Arató said.
Gyurcsány’s party demands ending ‘cheap Hungarian labour’ policy
The policy based on cheap labour and its exploitation must end in Hungary, Klára Dobrev, an MEP of the opposition Democratic Coalition (DK), said on Friday, after consultations with trade unions about the European minimum wage regulations.
Dobrev called it a “symbolic act” that she had her first discussion as DK’s shadow prime minister with union leaders. “Hungarian workers on monthly payrolls have been excessively exploited over the past 12 years, in part through depriving the trade unions of their rights,” she told a press conference. Dobrev said DK’s shadow cabinet would draft a minimum-wage scheme based on preliminary consultations with trade unions, employers’ associations, economists and social scientists in the coming months, arguing that “real work on this matter cannot be expected at all from the incumbent cabinet”.
DK’s shadow cabinet will prepare “an action plan” on better representing the interests of Hungarian employees on a European level, said Dobrev.
On Thursday, VFK, a forum of employers, unions and the government, started consultations regarding next year’s minimum wage and the guaranteed minimum wage for skilled workers. The monthly minimum wage in Hungary rose by 19 percent as of January 1 this year to 200,000 forints (EUR 493) for unskilled labourers and to 260,000 forints for skilled workers.
Read alsoThe Democratic Coalition presents shadow cabinet
Tímea Szabó to lead Párbeszéd parliament group
From next Monday, the parliamentary group of the opposition Párbeszéd party will once again be led by Tímea Szabó, while Bence Tordai will serve as deputy group leader, the party told MTI on Friday.
Upon its formation on April 29 after the general election earlier in that month, the parliamentary group elected Tordai as its interim leader and Szabó as his deputy. Both officials were expected to fill their post until Parbeszed elects its new leadership and parliament begins its autumn session. Since then, Szabó’s term as Párbeszéd co-leader has expired and Tordai has been elected the party’s new co-leader.
Read also Orbán may tremble? Gyurcsány’s DK formed a shadow cabinet
Opposition Párbeszéd proposes setting up anti-corruption prosecutor’s office
The opposition Párbeszéd has submitted a draft to parliament proposing the setting up of an anti-corruption prosecutor’s office, the party’s group leader said on Tuesday.
Bence Tordai told an online press conference that the government had submitted on Monday its amendment proposals in an effort to receive European Union funding. A larger package is expected on Friday which will show “how far they are willing to go in order to discontinue governance based on corruption”, he added.
Tordai said the cabinet’s planned measures were “very weak” and “unlikely to fully satisfy the European Commission’s expectations”.
“As a result, we have done the work that the government should have done and prepared a plan for an institutional framework that can really prevent and reveal corrupt criminal activities,” he said.
Párbeszéd has submitted a package of three proposals that detail the workings of an anti-corruption prosecutor’s office, including an office for the protection of public interest, he said. The party proposes fighting corruption with the help of public reporting, he added.
Read alsoHungarian government submits amendments designed to underpin deal with EU
Opposition Párbeszéd pledges support for teachers’ strike
The opposition Párbeszéd parliamentary group has pledged its support for a planned teachers’ strike and has also offered financial aid for the action, a party MP said on Tuesday.
At an online press briefing, Tamás Mellár appealed to the public to express solidarity with teachers and support the strike.
He said teachers were not calling for the action out of self-interest but because they were in the midst of an education system “in a state of deep crisis”.
Mellár insisted that Hungary’s education system had been degraded by the government, which had also placed “severe restrictions” on the right to strike. He added that civil disobedience in such a legal environment was “necessary” as well as “understandable and forgivable”.
Noting that striking teachers had been threatened with dismissal, he said “incompetent and unscrupulous” government officials should be sacked instead.
Fidesz maintains lead, but its support fell by 7 percentage
Ruling Fidesz has maintained its lead over the opposition parties over the summer. At the same time, its support fell by 7 percentage points to 47 percent, citing a poll by the Nézőpont Institute.
Support for the opposition fell to “around 32 percent, even considering uncertain voters who might support a joint opposition list,” the pro-government pollster said.
Meanwhile, fully 11 percent of voters said they were undecided concerning who they would be voting for. It seems “those leaving Fidesz have become undecided rather opposition supporters,” the institute said.
The opposition Democratic Coalition (DK), Socialist, LMP, Jobbik, Párbeszéd and Momentum parties which set up a joint list in the April parliamentary election, had 16 percent support at the end of August, down from 17 percent in July, they said. DK and Mi Hazánk were the only parties to increase their support by 1 percentage point to six percent, respectively, the pollster said.
Read alsoWhat is the Hungarian government doing to comply with the EU?
Opposition party wants to stop further government priority investments
The opposition Párbeszéd party is submitting a bill to MPs on stopping any further government priority investments and repealing the relevant law, arguing that such investments often harm the environment, as well as ignoring local government building regulations and monument protection rules.
Since 2010, almost 3,000 priority investments nationwide have received permits, Párbeszéd’s co-leader, Rebeka Szabó, told a press briefing on Sunday.
She said the investments which failed to take the interests of locals into consideration were a boon to people in ruling Fidesz circles.
Párbeszéd complained of “monstrous concrete” developments such as the one to revamp Bosnyák Square in Budapest against which a signature drive has been organised.
Featured image: illustration.
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Hungarian Socialists: Fidesz responsible if Hungary loses EU funds
Viktor Orbán’s government must be held responsible if Hungary loses any EU funds, a Socialist-Párbeszéd MEP said on Wednesday.
Even if the European Union suspends its rule-of-law procedure against Hungary and endorses Hungary’s EU budget for the next 7 years, some EU money is certain to be held back, István Ujhelyi told an online press briefing streamed on Facebook.
It will not be the EU that is responsible if Hungary misses out on funding but the prime minister and his circle who abused the system for corrupt ends, he added.
To guarantee every euro cent of funding Orbán must make a “political decision” to change the system, Ujhelyi said, adding that it was doubtful that the “rogue” government’s commitments to the EU would be enough to convince Brussels of its change of heart.
Read alsoHungarian government sets up anti-corruption body under EU pressure
Opposition parties slam government over energy policies
Opposition parties on Saturday castigated the government for preferring fossil fuels to renewables in attempts to handle the energy shortfall.
Instead of felling more trees, insulating housing would be a better solution, LMP co-leader Máté Kanász-Nagy told a press briefing on Saturday. Citing a recent government decree, he said plans were to destroy forests for firewood instead of exploiting green solutions to the energy crisis. Instead of “heating Hungarian streets with Russian gas”, an insulation scheme would help to reduce bills while also helping to create tens of thousands of jobs, he said, adding that 650,000 homes could be insulated by the end of the current parliamentary cycle in 2026.
The LMP politician also claimed possible savings of 420,000 tonnes in carbon dioxide emissions and 2 billion cubic meters of natural gas. Meanwhile, Rebeka Szabó, Párbeszéd’s co-leader, said the ban on wind farms should he lifted and the tax on solar panels and heat pumps abolished. In a statement today, she also decried the government’s decree on firewood as “pointless and harmful”, saying Hungary’s native forests were under “serious danger”. The possible consequences of deforestation, she added, were worse air pollution, water shortages and drought.
Read alsoCritical weeks at gas stations: it will be almost impossible to refuel at Balaton
Hungarian parliament to hold extraordinary session on Monday
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.
Read alsoOrbán meets Trump – photo gallery
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.
Read alsoSocialist MEP accuses Hungarian govt of lying about teacher wage hikes
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.
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.
Read alsoGovernment changes fuel purchase rules in Hungary from today – UPDATED
Opposition DK: Orbán’s Fidesz brought Hungary to ruin
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.
