Liget project: Municipal leaders plan to chop down more than 2,000 trees?

Budapest, June 8 (MTI) – The capital should seek an expert opinion from UNESCO on the planned Liget Project, a scheme involving the construction of a museum quarter in Budapest’s City Park, the mayor of Budapest’s 14th district said on Wednesday. More than 300 million forints (EUR 1m) will be spent this year on developing green areas in Budapest, the City Assembly decided at its session on Wednesday. 

Gergely Karácsony told a press conference ahead of a meeting of the municipal assembly that the project warrants consultation with UNESCO because the City Park is located in a world heritage site.

If Budapest fails to consult the cultural heritage body before approving the project, the resolution could be considered legally invalid, Karácsony, co-leader of the opposition Dialogue for Hungary party, said.

He said municipal leaders had so far ignored both professional and civil protests over the project and are now set to pass a resolution that will make way for the “destruction” of the City Park.

Earlier on Wednesday, civil activist group Ligetvédők said municipal leaders plan to chop down more than 2,000 trees in the near future. Gergely Csák, one of the activists, said the tree-felling would lead to an environmental disaster.