Budapest Mayor: Orbán must tell UAE partner that the shady mini-Dubai project is off the table – UPDATE

Budapest needs affordable suburban homes built “in a transparent way” in the city’s Rákosrendező development area, Gergely Karácsony, the city’s mayor, said in response to a statement by a government official on Monday. Prime Minister Viktor Orbán is going to the Emirates soon, the mayor said in a message about “mini-Dubai”.

Botond Sára, the head of the government office, said in a video posted on social media that the Budapest assembly “is facing perhaps the biggest decisions of its life”. “The councillors are set to decide whether to prevent the construction of apartments and jobs or support a development project which will yield money that could be used for developing the city’s public transport system developments and keeping the city clean,” said Sára.

Karácsony said in response that “it is becoming clearer and clearer that this is not a large-scale development project but a ‘back-door deal’ of the government,” adding that the project which he dubbed “mini Dubai” was aimed at building luxury apartments for foreigners rather than affordable housing for locals. The mayor said the metropolitan council wanted to ensure affordable housing with plenty of green spaces in the Rákosrendező area, “with the involvement of investors … in a transparent way, not in back-door dealings with Arab billionaires, but in competition, serving our sovereignty and Budapest residents.”

Orbán’s upcoming visit to the United Arab Emirates

The Rákosrendező brownfield area is in north-eastern Budapest’s 14th district, which is subject to conflicting development plans by the government and the municipality,
Concerning Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s upcoming visit to the United Arab Emirates, Karácsony said