budapest

March 08, 2010, 10:30 CET

Socialist party suspends membership of Budapest official suspected of graft

Hungary's governing Socialist party has suspended the party membership of Miklos Hagyo, a former representative in the Budapest municipal council who is suspected of taking kick-backs. The politician, who was until recently the second highest-ranking member of the municipal body,... [read complete entry]

March 04, 2010, 09:56 CET

Opposition moves rally to other side of Danube

The main opposition Fidesz party and its election ally Christian Democrats decided to move their campaign-opening rally on the national holiday of March 15 to a new site, a senior Fidesz official told MTI on Wednesday. Fidesz originally planned to... [read complete entry]

March 03, 2010, 09:33 CET

Parties to hold campaign rallies in Budapest on March 15 national holiday

All major parties in Hungary will hold a campaign rally on the afternoon of the national holiday of March 15 in the centre of Budapest, the organisers told MTI on Tuesday. March 15 marks the commemoration of Hungary's 1848 anti-Habsburg... [read complete entry]

February 22, 2010, 10:09 CET

Anti-fascist groups to stage demo against neo-Nazi rally in Budapest

Organisers expect thousands to attend an anti-fascist demonstration to be held against a neo-Nazi rally in Budapest on March 6, the organisers told a press conference on Friday. The Green Left, the Hungarian Workers's Party 2006 and the Democratic Network... [read complete entry]

February 16, 2010, 10:08 CET

Soviet monument in Budapest vandalized

The Budapest memorial to WWII soldiers of the Soviet Red Army - the only remaining monument of its kind in the city - was vandalised early on Monday, police told MTI. The metal fence surrounding the contested monument in Szabadsag... [read complete entry]

February 15, 2010, 10:26 CET

Two anti-fascist demonstrators in Budapest allegedly assaulted

Two participants of an anti-fascist demonstration in central Budapest were allegedly assaulted at a tram stop after they left a peaceful protest, a Hungarian Jewish organisation told MTI on Sunday. An ambulance was called to the scene and the suspects... [read complete entry]

February 12, 2010, 09:36 CET

Fidesz calls on Budapest mayor to resign over transport company scandal

Hungary's main opposition Fidesz on Thursday said Budapest Mayor Gabor Demszky should resign over scandals at Budapest transport company BKV. Istvan Gyorgy, head of the municipal committee investigating fraud allegations at BKV, insisted that large companies owned by the local... [read complete entry]

February 10, 2010, 09:52 CET

Neo-Nazis plan rally with German peers in Budapest

The Hungarian Nationalist Socialist Front (NS) plan to hold a rally in Budapest on March 6 with fellow German a neo-Nazis, Nepszabadsag daily said on Wednesday. Spokeswoman for the Budapest police headquarters Hilda Illes told MTI that the police had... [read complete entry]

February 10, 2010, 09:39 CET

Jobbik calls for dismantling of Soviet war memorial

The radical nationalist Jobbik party called for the removal of a Soviet war memorial from Szabadsag Square in central Budapest at a press conference on Tuesday. The prominent memorial has been a subject of dispute since the change of regime... [read complete entry]

January 12, 2010, 03:29 CET

Pre-election "potato and onion war" breaks out in Budapest

In what some observers are seeing as the first concrete sign that the 2010 election season has begun - and what the rest of us just see as another indication of the terminal silliness of Hungarian politics - a... [read complete entry]

November 27, 2009, 09:58 CET

District council member ejected from meeting for wearing Gárda uniform

Present Jobbik and former Fidesz council member Zsolt Gyenge attended a Sixth District Council meeting wearing a uniform of the outlawed far-right militia the Magyar Gárda. Socialist mayor István Verók asked him to leave and suspended the meeting when Gyenge... [read complete entry]

November 25, 2009, 09:01 CET

Government appoints new commissioner for Budapest affairs

Hungary's government appointed a new commissioner for overseeing cooperation with the Budapest municipal council, the government's press office told MTI on Tuesday. Csaba Horvath was appointed to the task as of November 25. The commissioner's tasks will include monitoring local... [read complete entry]

November 19, 2009, 08:15 CET

Fresh controversy over payments to jailed Budapest mayor

Opposition party Fidesz has complained that Socialist mayor of District VII György Hunvald, who has been in preliminary arrest since February, is still receiving his salary, writes Népszabadság. András Cser-Palkovics, deputy spokesman for the party said it did not make... [read complete entry]

November 18, 2009, 09:14 CET

Famous footballer rejects award from Budapest mayor, protests leftist bias

Budapest Mayor Gábor Demszky yesterday bestowed honorary citizenship on ten people at City Hall. Gyula Grosics, goalkeeper of the legendary Hungarian football side of the 1950s, recently refused the award, as he felt he was the only person on the... [read complete entry]

November 11, 2009, 09:45 CET

Retkes proposes Bokros as joint MSZP-SZDSZ-MDF candidate for PM

Former finance minister Lajos Bokros should run as the joint candidate for prime minister of the Socialists, the Free Democrats and the Democratic Forum at next year's parliamentary elections, Free Democrat chairman Attila Retkes suggested. In an interview published on... [read complete entry]

November 03, 2009, 10:52 CET

Political property news: Gyurcsány buy no picnic for Fidesz, Újbuda mayor makes major building mistake

After an intriguingly unsuccessful attempt last year, former Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsány and his wife Klára Dobrev have managed to buy a property they had been hankering after in the Somogy County village of Kötcse. According to local portal sonline.hu,... [read complete entry]

October 20, 2009, 10:01 CET

Multi-party talks over municipal standoff in Budapest fail

Representatives of five parties in the Budapest municipal council failed to come to an agreement on Monday on the future framework of cooperation after the Socialist-liberal coalition split last week. The Socialists quit the coalition with the liberal Free Democrats... [read complete entry]

October 15, 2009, 09:53 CET

Fidesz moves to force early municipal elections in Budapest

Fidesz submitted a bill to Parliament on Wednesday to have the Budapest city council dissolved to allow early local elections. The bill submitted by Debrecen mayor Lajos Kósa, party spokesman Péter Szíjjártó and Christian Democrat chairman Zsolt Semjén proposes that... [read complete entry]

October 14, 2009, 09:59 CET

Budapest Socialists sever coalition with Liberals over business deals

The Socialist Party decided on Tuesday to dissolve the coalition on Budapest city council with the Free Democrats and recall its deputy mayors, after the liberals voted against a Socialist proposal to publish online all contracts worth over Ft 5... [read complete entry]

October 05, 2009, 10:50 CET

Budapest Socialists debate future of discredited leaders

The Budapest Socialist Party executive committee will hold a special party council meeting tomorrow to address internal dissent against its leadership, mainly because of the recent scandals at Budapest transport company BKV. Péter Farkas, a 17th District chapter executive committee... [read complete entry]

September 17, 2009, 11:58 CET

Budapest mayor remains out of jail despite prison sentence

The former deputy mayor of Budapest's District X (Kőbánya) was arrested four years ago and sentenced to two years in prison after pleading guilty in a bribery case involving millions of forints, yet to date has not spent a day... [read complete entry]

September 09, 2009, 10:10 CET

Mud-slinging begins in District government corruption dogfight

It was inevitable that Budapest's Socialists would hit back against Fidesz after several of its local government officials have become embroiled in high-profile embezzlement scandals. According to MSZP, Budapest's District XVII, led by opposition party Fidesz, lost nearly Ft 100... [read complete entry]

September 07, 2009, 10:36 CET

Government beefs up police force with 1,000 new officers

From the autumn 1,000 more police officers will patrol public areas, police secondary schools will be allowed to admit 150% more pupils, and implementation of a Village Guard programme will begin, as part of the cabinet's new public safety programme,... [read complete entry]

September 03, 2009, 09:31 CET

Resignation of District major VIII linked to Corvin Promenade deal

Eighth District independent mayor Béla Csécsei’s resignation from the local council was accepted by its other members yesterday. He had held the post since February 1993. Csécsei, who quit the Free Democrats after Attila Retkes was elected party chairman in... [read complete entry]

August 19, 2009, 09:28 CET

Mayor continues to get sick, dirty money in jail

György Hunvald, the former mayor of Budapest's District VII former (Erzsébetváros), is still taking in nearly Ft 250,000 (over €900) a month despite having been in preliminary detention on charges of bribery and other crimes for more than six months,... [read complete entry]

August 14, 2009, 11:07 CET

Budapest City Council battles over scandal at public transport firm

The Socialist members of Budapest city council will initiate the dismissal of BKV CEO István Kocsis because of the state of affairs prevailing at the public transport company, the scandalously large severance payments there, and the loss of confidence in... [read complete entry]

July 22, 2009, 09:41 CET

Socialist MP Kékesi may be suspect in Budapest property corruption case

"What must happen will happen," Socialist MP Tibor Kékesi Tuesday told Lánchídrádió in a report suggesting that he could become a suspect in the Sixth District property corruption case. The prosecutor's office is currently investigating five suspicious district property sales... [read complete entry]

July 09, 2009, 10:37 CET

Majority in poll disapprove of Budapest's direction, mayor

Some 55% of Budapest residents consider mayor Gábor Demszky unfit for his position or only partly competent, while 40% say he is the right man for the job, according to an opinion poll conducted by the Progresszív and Publicus institutes.... [read complete entry]

May 13, 2009, 08:56 CET

Liberals at home in Europe, miserable

It's no secret that the SZDSZ is really struggling these days, with polls showing the party likely to get zero seats in the upcoming European Parliament elections, and to be zeroed out of parliament whenever the next general election... [read complete entry]

April 27, 2009, 12:12 CET

Fidesz wins by-election in "Red" Budapest district

Joint Fidesz-Christian Democrat candidate Balázs Gárday won the by-election in Csepel constituency number three on Sunday, local election office head Gábor Széles told MTI. Of the 4,158 eligible voters, 989, or 23.78%, turned out.... [read complete entry]

April 27, 2009, 07:41 CET

Socialists seek replacement for jailed Budapest assembly member

Hungary's governing Socialist party has found a replacement for a representative -- who is behind bars facing corruption charges -- in the Budapest city council's general assembly, the party's Budapest executive said on Saturday. The post needs to be filled... [read complete entry]

March 18, 2009, 11:25 CET

District VII property scandal "just the tip of the iceberg"

While former District VII mayor György Hunvald remains under preliminary arrest for his part in the property scandal that broke late last November, the case is "just the tip of the iceberg," reports Index.hu in a round-up of property fraud... [read complete entry]

January 12, 2009, 09:31 CET

First round of District IX by-election invalid

Sunday's first round of the Ninth District by-election was invalid, as only 25.9% of the district's 31,058 eligible voters turned out. A second round will be held on January 25 in which a turnout of 25% will render the result... [read complete entry]

November 19, 2008, 12:42 CET

Újpest to erect statue for "leftist idol" to balance new statue of rightist icon

Socialist politicians in Budapest's District IV (Újpest) are planning to erect a statue of a "leftist idol" to "balance" a recently-erected statue of Transylvanian novelist Albert Wass, who is popular among rightists, reports Index.hu. Deputy Mayor Norbert Trippon told the... [read complete entry]

October 02, 2008, 08:25 CET

NATO's Georgia committee to hold Oct 10 session in Budapest

NATO's recently established Georgia committee will have its next session - to be its second - in Budapest, on the sidelines of an informal meeting of defence ministers of the organisation next week, NATO spokesman James Appathurai announced in Brussels... [read complete entry]

September 18, 2008, 08:28 CET

Large political demonstrations expected for Saturday in Budapest

Saturday will see large demonstrations by the left and right in various points of Budapest. The Hungarian Democratic Charta, formed at the initiative of Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsány, will stage its first rally at 3 p.m. at Clark Ádám tér,... [read complete entry]

August 29, 2008, 10:34 CET

Sweet deal alleged for Demszky's "drinking buddy"

Right-wing daily Magyar Hírlap is charging that the Budapest municipal government has unfairly favored a crony of mayor Gábor Demszky, in providing subsides and other goodies for a local wine festival. According to the paper, the Budapest local government supported... [read complete entry]

July 09, 2008, 11:50 CET

Hard-pressed District V serfs get one more royal mouth to feed

A month or two before this site was launched last fall, our sister site Pestiside.hu took a shot at the laughably sycophantic treatment by a supposedly "independent" newspaper in Budapest's District V of the wedding of Antal Rogán, the pointlessly... [read complete entry]

July 04, 2008, 11:12 CET

Budapest's biggest politicians in M0 "road rage" slugfest

The stalled progress of the M0 ring road in the northern part of Buda is not only consigning local and passing motorists to further months or years in traffic purgatory. It has also led to a classic game of... [read complete entry]

June 04, 2008, 10:35 CET

Fidesz-run Budapest district takes law into own hands

District II government to fund police raids on Moszkva tér, to help clean up crime-plagued square. [read complete entry]

April 25, 2008, 09:42 CET

Budapest city council demands removal of nationalist statue

Mayor suspends session as right-wing demonstrators protest dismantling of "turul" monument [read complete entry]

April 17, 2008, 10:46 CET

Demszky and Gyurcsány clash over tax funds and BKV finances

The Budapest mayor and prime minister have gotten into a war of words over finding a solution for Budapest's perennially cash-strapped public transportation company. [read complete entry]

February 08, 2008, 09:29 CET

Tarlós presents Fidesz's vision for Budapest

István Tarlós, the Fidesz leader on Budapest city council, outlined his party's plans for the city on Thursday. Fidesz does not want to build a metropolis, he said, but is content to make Budapest a leading city in Central Europe.... [read complete entry]