Govt seeks alternative to M4 motorway project

Budapest, March 26 (MTI) – As Brussels has rejected Hungary’s proposal to go ahead with a project to build the M4 motorway from Budapest in the direction of the Romanian border, the government is working on an alternative plan for a section of the route by creating a four-lane highway connecting Szolnok, in central Hungary, to the existing M5 motorway, cabinet chief Janos Lazar said at a press conference on Thursday.

Hungary submitted the M4 project to the European Commission late in 2013 but withdrew it after the Commission “raised concerns about the high costs”.

Lazar said the investment in its current form would be suspended and a new public procurement procedure launched. In the meantime, it must be clarified how the construction costs came about and how Brussels came to suspect cartel activity.