Budapest mayor: government took 510m EUR out of the capital’s pockets

Budapest Mayor Gergely Karácsony on Saturday expressed his pride over achievements made in the past three years, stating that all 323 measures introduced in the period served to make the city freer and greener.

Karácsony and Richárd Barabás, spokesman for opposition Párbeszéd and deputy mayor of Budapest’s 11th district, assessed the achievements and outlined tasks for the next two years at a joint event on Margaret Island on the occasion that Karácsony was appointed Budapest Mayor on October 13 in 2019. By the end of 2022, some 164 billion forints (EUR 510m) had been “taken out of the capital’s pockets” as a result of various government decisions, he said. Additionally, the city’s officials had to cope with the economic crisis, the coronavirus pandemic and the energy crisis, he said.

Karácsony said that in the spirit of “open governance”, his administration had engaged in social debates over the last three years on issues like the uses for public spaces. The mayor said he did not care about re-election but wanted to change the city when it came to things like how people view public spaces. He also said he was encouraged by the fact that in the public budget, Budapest residents had voted in favour of more social policies and green areas in the city. He emphasised the importance of public transport developments which involved the goal of procuring more comfortable and more energy-efficient vehicles.

Read also Budapest mayor: government took 510m EUR out of the capital’s pockets

The mayor said that despite the measures aimed at making the city greener, he was not satisfied. He said he hoped there would be a period when there would be “fewer burdens” and more could be done for a “free and green” Budapest. Karácsony expressed his belief that green policies should represent both those who are “worried about the world” and those who are “worried about the end of the month”. “This is the direction to go in even in a wartime crisis,” he added.