"He is also right that Fidesz finds a difficult terrain everywhere where there is freedom, where independence is valued, and where a sense of self-worth is the starting point."

"That is why anti-Budapest politics aiming to destroy freedom, dismantle independence, and damages the citizens is not worthy of the trust of Budapest citizens," Karacsony said.

Orban: 'We have been building in Budapest for the past 15 years while our opponents have been obstructing us'

"Over the past 15 years, we have been building in Budapest, while our opponents have been obstructing us," Prime Minister Viktor Orban, president of Fidesz, said on Tuesday evening at his party's candidate nomination meeting in Budapest.

Citing recent development projects in Budapest, Orban said that over the past 15 years, the government had invested 3 trillion forints (EUR 7.8bn) in developing the capital. Parks, sports halls, schools, clinics, and hospitals have been renovated thanks to the work of the Hungarian government, he added.

"We have hosted several world championships in water sports, we have had the World Athletics Championships, we have had the Champions League quarter-finals, and soon we will have the final," Orban said. City Park and Kossuth Square have been renovated, and the Buda Castle is under reconstruction, he added.

He said that "after left-wing backroom deals," the Fidesz government completed Metro Line 4 instead of Budapest and participated in the renovation of Metro Line 3.

 "We have created one of Europe's best public transport systems in Budapest," he said, expressing his regret that the current city administration was unable to take advantage of the opportunity.

Karacsony: Govt planning to 'raid municipalities again' in 2026

Hungary's "government of extortion" this year is again planning to "raid municipalities", the mayor of Budapest said on Facebook on Tuesday, commenting on the public administration minister's call for consultations with local governments.

Gergely Karacsony said the government was planning "not only to take away a large portion of municipalities' own revenues," but local governments would be expected to lend money to the central budget, too.

He added that municipalities were expected to forward their business tax contributions to the government starting in January, whereas they could only collect those revenues in March.

"Government election handouts are at the expense of totally emptying municipalities' coffers," Karacsony said.

The mayor said that despite its earlier pledges, the government had failed to pay Budapest 12 billion forints for public transport services, and the capital had been forced to reschedule settling its invoices.

"The ransom brought forward to January creates an horribly difficult situation, and is seen as a double penalty for the city," he said.

The mayor called it "absurd" that "while municipalities are bled out" Tibor Navracsics, the minister of public administration and rural development, "wants to discuss a municipal reform to be implemented after the upcoming elections."

Noting that the government has enjoyed a two-thirds majority for 16 years, he said: "What matters is really what they do rather than what they say... They have brought the municipal sector to the brink of bankruptcy."

Karacsony called on the government to immediately reduce the burdens on municipalities and "abstain from making them finance the government's election handouts".
 

Source: MTI – Hungary’s national news agency since 1881. While MTI articles are usually factual, some may contain political bias, and readers should be aware that such content does not reflect the position of XpatLoop, which is neutral and independent.

Since the goal of XpatLoop is to keep readers well briefed, right across the spectrum of opinions, MTI items are shared to ensure readers are aware of all narratives within the local media.

XpatLoop believes in empowering readers to form their own views through complete and comprehensive coverage. To facilitate this XpatLoop has a balanced range of news partners, as you can see when you surf around XpatLoop.com
 

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