Government to set up school guard service in Hungary

The cabinet has decided to set up a school guard service which will affect some 500 schools, including 140-150 vocational schools, the head of the Prime Minister’s Office said on Thursday.

Gergely Gulyás told an online press conference that school guards will be constantly present in the schools that have been most affected by serious disciplinary issues. The school guards, likely to be recruited from former police officers, will not carry guns but they will be authorised to apply coercive measures if needed, he added.

The range of criminal activities punishable from the age of 12 will be expanded and all criminal acts committed against teachers will be included, he said.

Meanwhile, on a different subject, Gulyás also said Hungary will ban single-use plastics from July 1, 2021, half a year later than originally planned.

He added that in the current difficult economic situation, the ban must be introduced in a way that does not endanger jobs.

The new date was set after talks between Minister of Innovation and Technology László Palkovics, key players in the sector and the MPs of the constituencies concerned, Gulyás said, adding that the ban would affect plastic products above a thickness of 15 microns. Hungary’s ban will be even stricter than what is prescribed by the European Union, he said, noting that the EU directive mandates a ban on plastics above 50 microns. “This is in line with our commitment represented in our green policy,” Gulyas said.

The government will make 10 billion forints (EUR 29m) available to the sector to smooth the way for the change in technologies, he added.

Asked about Budapest Mayor Gergely Karácsony’s criticism of the 2021 budget bill — namely that the so-called solidarity contribution local councils will have to pay into the budget would “bleed them dry” — Gulyás said that up until now, the contribution of local councils to Hungary’s epidemic response measures had not been onerous. Budapest will be expected to contribute more in solidarity taxes next year, but that money will be redistributed among poorer local councils, he explained.

Asked if the municipal council had requested more funding for the renovation of the Chain Bridge, Gulyás noted that the government had promised former Budapest Mayor Istvan Tarlos that it would allocate an additional 6 billion forints toward the project. This money is still available, but the government is unsure as to whether the municipal council is in need of it, Gulyás said, citing recent remarks by deputy mayor David Dorosz that the municipal council wants to keep the government “as far away from the project as possible”. The government wants to see the project completed as quickly as possible and within an 18-month timespan, he said. If the municipal council does not accept the government’s help, the funds can be spent on economic stimulus or epidemic response measures, he added.