The head of the Prime Minister’s Office has underlined that the Hungarian government continues to reject all EU migrant quota relocation proposals.
According to MTI, Gergely Gulyás said the issue of quotas, which he said had emerged repeatedly in recent weeks, was the “last desperate attempt” by the outgoing European Commission to paper over its failures. Hungary, he added, could only accept quotas for expelling migrants.
In regards to Hungarian citizens at home, Gulyás said the government would provide a further HUF 2 billion of subsidies to large families for purchasing seven-seater cars. Also, he noted that more than 40,000 applications have been submitted for baby subsidies and around 30,000 had signed the relevant contracts worth a total of HUF 285.5 billion, with each subsidy averaging HUF 9.6 million. The budget, he said, was stable and the money for family support measures taken during the year was available thanks to better-than-expected economic growth.
Regarding the municipal elections, Gulyás said incumbent mayor of Budapest István Tarlós was confident of victory. He accused the opposition candidate Gergely Karácsony, who is the current mayor of the Zugló district of the capital, of “inadequacy” based on his record running the district.
Gulyás said the recent report that Prime Minister Viktor Orbán had said cities would only receive central government funding if Fidesz mayors were in charge after the local elections was a “misreading” of PM Orbán’s statement. He accused political forces of seeking to seize “bridgeheads” in the elections as a way of mounting an offensive ahead of the 2022 general election instead of treating local authorities as partners, as the government did.
“It is not on the part of the government that partnership is lacking. Rather, it is political forces rising up against us, those who clearly want to fight the government,” he said.
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