The city's current account currently stands at a deficit of 6.5 billion forints, he said, adding: "If the Treasury exploits this political transition period to unlawfully seize the city's account, our six years of efforts to maintain the city's operational capacity will be in vain -- we won’t even be able to pay April salaries."

Karacsony noted that the Treasury had a legal opportunity to suspend collection procedures for 60 days, adding that he had called on the Treasury head to use that opportunity. "He will probably need to find a new job soon anyway, and he should not halt Budapest's public services," the mayor added.

Referring to the recent election, Karacsony said Budapest had demonstrated that people "voted down the corrupt and anti-Budapest policies of the past 16 years." 

He said he hoped the next government would be formed soon, and it would deliver on the Tisza Party's pledges to restore the former local government system and sign an agreement with Budapest, as outlined in Tisza's election programme, under which the city could operate with legal guarantees.

Answering a question, Karacsony said the relationship between Budapest and the government "could only improve". Ties with the government were currently "miserable", he said, adding that "they wanted to stifle us but they did not succeed." 

A responsible central government must be a key partner to all local governments "therefore I am optimistic and can't wait for the new government to be set up," he said.
 

Karacsony said Tisza's two-thirds majority should be used to build "a more decentralised state".

The mayor said he hoped Tisza would "take a political responsibility" in the municipal assembly and said the capital's stable operations required that Tisza delegate a deputy mayor.

Karacsony said he had congratulated Tisza leader Peter Magyar on election night, but had not contacted him since.

MTI Stock Photo

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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