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Budapest mayor frightens with no public transport and dark streets from March
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Gergely Karácsony, the opposition mayor of Budapest, talked about the dark future of Hungary’s astonishing capital at a conference. He said that if Budapest went bankrupt, he could still look in the mirror since it would not be his fault. He added that the current crisis hit the Hungarian local governments hard. However, local politicians should not be blamed for the financial crisis it causes in the settlements. If Budapest goes bankrupt, public transport will stop, there will be no heating in the public institutions and the streets will remain dark after sunset.
At a conference of the Republikon Institute, Karácsony said there was no answer to the question of whether there was still self-governance in Hungary. “I would not be able to answer the question whether there was a democracy in Hungary or not, but the latter is more likely”, he expressed his thoughts. Karácsony said there were multiple laws narrowing their manoeuvring abilities.
Karácsony said the local governments’ reactions to the coronavirus pandemic, the Ukrainian refugee crisis, or the energy crisis were better than the government’s in many respects. However, the current crisis poses the hardest task for all of them, szmo.hu wrote.
Read alsoBudapest mayor frightens with no public transport and dark streets from March
“I do not know whether we will survive 2023”, he said. If he looks at the prices of the Dutch gas stock exchange, he would say they have no chance. Without government help, Budapest would go bankrupt by March. Provided such a scenario came true, it would not be the fault of the mayors or the local councils.
Talking about street lighting,
I was in Budapest about five weeks ago. It was an early Saturday evening and I wanted to go out of the hotel to look around for a nice little spot for a light dinner and coffee. Once I was on the street, I was astonished at how dark the street was (it was a major thoroughfare), and I couldn’t even be sure which places were open or closed (because of the very dim lighting). I walked for no more than 80 meters and decided that it was just too scary for me to be out in such dim lighting, so I walked back to the hotel.
I don’t know what kind of lighting is used on the streets of Budapest, but changing the lighting to brighter, more cost-effective ones would be much appreciated by all those who’d like to go out for a stroll (and feel safe) on a Saturday night. Not all modern lighting is expensive.