Prime Minister Viktor Orbán told Kossuth Radio on Friday morning that Hungary has had to give up on some of its dreams following the appointment of new Budapest mayor Gergely Karácsony.
The prime minister said the period of the past nine years in Budapest under the former mayor, István Tarlós, had been a “golden age” during which the central government and municipality had managed to agree on the developments needed to be carried out.
PM Orbán said Budapest had now changed course. “All the old left-wing government cadres are coming back,” he said, adding that they had a different approach to that of Tarlós.
The prime minister said he had raised the issue of 15-20 projects at a recent meeting with Karácsony with a view to coming to an agreement on them. “I had to withdraw a lot of things; it wasn’t pleasant for us to give up dreams,” he said.
PM Orbán referred to the flagship development project in City Park, claiming it to be “the biggest cultural development in the Western world”, and saying it had “stalled” because the mayor had vowed to abolish elements of the plan, including for the National Gallery, the House of Science and Innovation and the rebuilding of the City Park Theatre.
In the case of the World Athletic Championships slated to be held in Budapest in 2023, he said Karácsony had asked to delay deciding the matter until the end of the month. PM Orbán noted that the international federation was expected to reach a decision by November 15, so he hoped the municipality would soon change its position on the issue.
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