Orbán pledges to help Pécs amid strained finances

Visiting the south Hungarian city of Pécs, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán pledged to locals on Friday that the government would step in and help out the financially strained local council. 

“Pecs is not in a good budgetary situation; we have to solve this,” Orbán said at a ceremony held in the Kodály Centre to celebrate a local university anniversary. “Those that created the problem will sort it out,” the prime minister said, adding that locals could count on the government. “We will stand behind the people of Pécs,” he said. “Kindly support us.”

The local authority of Pécs is controlled by the ruling Fidesz party.

Addressing the ceremony celebrating the 650th anniversary of the University of Pécs, Hungary’s oldest university, Orban said that next year the cabinet would spend 552 billion forints (EUR 1.8bn) more on education than in 2010. He noted that more than 250,000 students would pursue their studies across the country.