Együtt

Opposition slams “chaotic” introduction of new road toll

road toll Hungary

Budapest, January 5 (MTI) – The opposition Socialist Party has called on the government to waive fines for non-payment of the new motorway e-toll.

Meanwhile the Democratic Coalition (DK), the Egyutt (Together) party and green opposition LMP have demanded the new system be scrapped altogether.

Under the scheme introduced on Jan. 1 a fee applies to use of the M0 ring around Budapest and links to motorways. E-stickers for individual counties costing 5,000 forints, or 16 euros, a year can also be purchased.

DK called on the government to withdraw the toll and remedy the “chaotic situation” caused by its introduction. Laszlo Varju, a DK board member, told a press conference that the stickers were unavailable at petrol stations and could not be purchased online from the National Toll Payment Service company either due to the collapse of its system.

Tamas Harangozo, a deputy group leader of the Socialists, told a press conference on Monday that the toll was “the price of the government’s corruption”. A 1,500 forint fine must be paid by drivers who fail to pay the tolls, he noted, adding that it is hardly the fault of road-users that the government’s measure has been so ill-prepared.

The Egyutt (Together) party also demanded the withdrawal of the toll system which “failed right upon its launch”. Nora Hajdu, a party board member, complained about a lack of proper impact studies or timely public information, adding that the toll had been levied mistakenly on certain road sections.

Green party LMP said the collapse of the IT system showed that the authorities had been as unprepared as the public. Laszlo Lorant Keresztes, the party’s transport spokesman, said in a statement that the new measures had been introduced hastily and haphazardly with the sole intention of increasing revenues. He added that even government politicians such as Defence Minister Csaba Hende and deputy head of parliament’s legislative committee Gergely Gulyas had criticised the new toll system.

Zsolt Becsey, deputy state secretary for transport at the national development ministry, said that since January 1 the authorities had been continually monitoring and evaluating experiences connected with the introduction of the new system.

In a video message on the government’s website, Becsey said that as with any other system, the transformation of the toll system had encountered teething problems and a grace period is needed to address these.

Photo: MTI

Opposition politician Juhasz files criminal complaint against Budapest district officials

Daily News Hungary

Budapest (MTI) – The opposition Egyutt party’s co-leader Peter Juhasz has raised charges in connection with suspect property deals in Budapest’s 5th district.

Juhasz, a representative in the district’s council, told a news conference that several dozen shady deals had caused major financial damages to the district and he insisted they had been carried out in an organised way. He referred to the suspected forgery of documents, abuse of office, misappropriation and fraud, saying the deals had set back the district up to 10 billion forints (EUR 32m).

Juhasz said he trusted that Peter Polt, the public prosecutor, would launch an immediate and transparent investigation.

In a statement, the 5th district council said it had filed a defamation suit against Juhasz in the summer. Since that time it has launched two other suits against the Egyutt politician, the statement said, due to his “lies”. On December 4, a municipal court ruled that the prosecutor should start a procedure against Juhasz in connection with his accusations, it added.

Hungary should ratify CoE treaty on violence against women, says Egyutt lawmaker

Budapest (MTI) – Opposition Egyutt (Together) has called on Hungary to ratify the Istanbul Treaty of the Council of Europe condemning violence against women.

Zsuzsanna Szelenyi, a lawmaker for Egyutt who sits as an independent, told a press conference on Friday that all opposition parties in parliament supported her initiative, but the governing parties had not yet come forward to state their support.

According to national statistics, every fourth Hungarian woman encounters family violence in some form, Szelenyi said after visiting a women and children’s shelter built at a secret location. She said the women who live there generally do not trust the Hungarian authorities, which, in her opinion is due to police attitudes such as those witnessed in a recent video released by the Baranya county police on violence against women.

In a safety video criticised as victim-blaming, police convey the message “You are responsible, you can prevent it”.

Szelenyi said Hungary has the social institutions in place to help women and children, but a lot more must be done. She said protection and prevention must be ensured in policies to combat family violence. Ratifying the Istanbul treaty is one step in this direction, she said.

LMP, Together, Socialists lambast government for supporting South Stream

Daily News Hungary

Budapest/Brussels, December 2 (MTI) – Russia’s dropping the South Stream gas pipeline project has proven that the Hungarian government had “backed the wrong horse” in its foreign policy, the co-leader of green LMP told a press conference on Tuesday.

Bernadett Szel criticised the government for “making a unilateral commitment to Russia despite any reasonable considerations”. She insisted that Hungary’s foreign policy has failed, and argued that Norway’s gas is cheaper in Europe than gas imported from Russia, still, Hungary had manoeuvred itself in an “awkward diplomatic situation” with the former country.

Szel also suggested that the situation could impact Hungary’s plans to upgrade the Paks nuclear plant with Russian assistance, and argued that Russia clearly has financing problems and would “quickly back out of any scheme”.

The opposition Together party also urged the government to admit “the failure of its Eastern Opening policy” and called for a redrafting of its energy policies.

The Liberal Party said that since Putin “arbitrarily abrogates contracts and agreements” it was worth considering the agreement Hungary signed with Russia on the upgrade of the Paks nuclear plant.

Opposition Socialist MEP Tibor Szanyi said that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s Monday announcement of cancelling the planned South Stream gas pipeline was a “merciless slap in the face” for Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban.

Szanyi told a press conference in Brussels that the announcement meant the failure of a targeted project in Orban’s policy for the east. He added that despite Orban being “the last European ally of Putin’s autocracy”, now all the energetic preparations by Orban’s government have abruptly ended “by a snap”.

Putin announced on Monday that his country had decided not to start construction of the South Stream pipeline strongly opposed by the European Union. However, the European Commission on Tuesday said it wanted to carry on with talks on the pipeline.

Együtt: Hungarians’ right to property, freedom under threat

Budapest, November 23 (MTI) – A “campaign” by the government and ruling Fidesz against certain retail outlets represents a threat to Hungarians’ right to property and freedom, the opposition Together (Egyutt) party said on today.

Some of the new legal amendments aim to transform the retail market and worsen the position of large chains where “hundreds of thousands of Hungarians buy quality goods at low cost every day”, Zsuzsanna Szelenyi, who sits in parliament as an independent MP, told a press conference.

The various extra taxes and restrictions planned to be introduced could force the affected chains to lay off workers and increase prices, Szelenyi said. As a result, the prices of staple products, foodstuff and household goods will increase and many shops will be closed “so in effect everyone will be worse off as a result of these measures, except for a few companies that maintain close ties with (ruling) Fidesz,” she added.

According to Szelenyi, this is part of Fidesz’s obtrusive strategy going against free competition.

Next year’s tax law passed by Parliament on Tuesday establishes a 0-6 percent “food supervisory” tax on fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) shops’ adjusted net revenue over 500 million forints. The highest rate is applied to shops with revenue over 300 billion forints.

Additionally, the government submitted on Tuesday to Parliament a bill that would prohibit big supermarkets and discount shops from opening in the area of Budapest’s designated World Heritage sites from next year and force existing ones to close by 2018.

The same bill would prohibit retailers from selling FMCG that fail to generate a profit for two consecutive years. The rule would apply only to companies with sales of more than 50 billion forints in both years, and it would exempt companies in their first four years of business.

Together Calls on Govt to Withdraw New Tobacco Bill

Budapest, November 15 (MTI) – The opposition Together (Egyutt) party has called on the government to withdraw its plan to introduce a bill on tobacco trade.

Viktor Szigetvari, the party’s co-leader, told a news conference on Saturday that the bill, which he dubbed “tobacco law 2”, which seeks to place a middleman between retailers and wholesalers, was “unnecessary”.

He added that the law was only good for the Fidesz government to put a middleman in place with a view to nationalising the wholesale trade of tobacco.

Szigetvari insisted that it had become apparent with the publication of balance sheets at the end of May that the reorganisation of state concessions for tobacconist retailers had been a “failure”. A significant number of retailers had made losses and were struggling with serious liquidity problems.

It is also clear, he added, that the government’s restructuring of the sector had produced a “shockingly large” loss in tax revenues, in the tens of billions of forints, due to an ever bigger black market derived from cigarette smuggling. He called on the government to thwart the spread of illegal tobacco trade in Hungary rather than bring in a new law.

Azeri president’s visit “clearly shows Hungary’s standing”, says opposition parties

Budapest, November 11 (MTI) – The Azerbaijani president’s visit to Budapest clearly shows Hungary’s current international standing, a board member of the opposition Együtt (Together) party said on Tuesday.

Nora Hajdu (Együtt) told reporters in front of Parliament, where Ilham Aliyev held talks with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, that neither the German nor the British nor the French premiers were standing in line to visit Hungary, yet “we are delighted” if the Azeri president comes over. She noted that Hungary’s foreign minister had travelled to Azerbaijan last week to prepare the ground for the current visit, and had laid a wreath at the grave of the current president’s father, “a dictator and a former KGB general”. While the world and Europe are celebrating the 25th anniversary of the collapse of the Berlin Wall, Hungary’s premier is hosting the Azeri president, who is rarely a guest in EU countries, she added.

The LMP party said it was unacceptable that the government should sign hazy economic agreements with dictatorial regimes while turning a blind eye to their human rights violations. Tamas Meszerics, the party’s MEP, said in response to the Azeri president’s visit that Hungary’s misguided foreign policy would isolate the country once and for all. During his talks with Aliyev, Orban failed to even mention Azerbaijan’s human rights violations, imprisoned members of the Azeri opposition, the country’s departure from western values or the terrible ecological disaster in the Sumgayit region, he said. Meszerics said it was especially worrying that alleged plans for investment fund of Eximbank, which is funded by Hungarian taxpayers, and the Azeri Pasha Bank are being kept under wraps. LMP calls for maximum transparency in the use of public monies. The Orban government’s foreign policy is “misguided and short-sighted,” and if Hungary jeopardises its NATO or European Union memberships that would undermine national interests even in the short term, he said.

The leftist Democratic Coalition said it is not surprising that Orban should be looking to forge closer ties with Aliyev as both leaders were “proud propagators” of illiberal establishments. Attila Ara-Kovacs, the party’s foreign spokesman, told MTI in a statement that Orban’s guest had come from a country where blackmailing and threatening journalists was everyday practice, as well as imprisoning members of the opposition and thwarting even the smallest of demonstrations with force. While the larger part of the world raises its voice against the autocratic governance of Azerbaijan, Orban’s “scandal-government” salutes it, he said. He also noted that in 2012 the Orban government had released an axe-murderer to Azerbaijan, even though it could be expected that he would become a hero there, which would rekindle conflict between Azeris and Armenians.

Photo: MTI – Szilard Koszticsak