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Budapest Mayor Calls for New Compromise Between Capital & Government

• 5 Jan 2026 10:21 AM

"A new compromise is needed between Budapest and the provinces and between the capital and the government," Gergely Karácsony, the mayor of Budapest, said on Facebook.

The mayor called for "relief from the oppression that we ourselves created, from the bad reflexes, from the burden of indifference and of being divided". Such a relief could help realise "the simple truth ... that the nation and the nation's capital could only rise together".

Karacsony referred to 2025 as a "chaotic and ominous year of daily struggle" in which Budapest leaders had "had to protect the city again and again from the government's petty policy of extortion."

He noted the government's "Christmas present" of plans to levy a solidarity tax of almost 100 billion forints on Budapest in 2026, and said that the city's landmark Chain Bridge "could be refurbished four times" from that grand total.
 

He also said that Budapest could not pay the tax "even if it halved the number of buses, trams and metro trains", adding that "the government has not given up its plan to ruin Budapest".

"But I won't allow them to break Budapest's backbone; they have pushed the city to the wall ... but we won't stop but break through that wall," the mayor pledged.
 

"If the government refuses to drop its policy against Budapest, the only thing left for us to do will be to replace the government," Karacsony said. He added that "the hope for change has now become a chance ... that is exactly why they want to strangle Budapest, because if Budapest can breathe a sigh of relief, then so can the country."

 

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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• Mayor Budapest Mayor Gergely Karácsony

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