Gyurcsany: Government ‘must go’ – The Budapest Times

Written by BT/MTI

“The government must go because it would not meet its patriotic obligations,” Ferenc Gyurcsany, leader of the opposition Democratic Coalition (DK), said referring to the government’s failure to meet the European Union’s preconditions for accessing community funding, in Szeged, in southern Hungary, on Wednesday.

Speaking on the sidelines of an away group meeting of his party, Gyurcsany insisted that if DK were in power, they would “strike a deal with the EU within a month”. He also added his party “does not want a regime that hinders access to EU resources”. He noted that the government had until March 31 to meet the European Commission’s criteria concerning EU funds to Hungary worth a total 14,000 billion forints, and said “there is nothing more unpatriotic than to deprive residents, municipalities, and businesses of so much money”.

“Those conditions will not be met because the government has not submitted the relevant bills rather than because of the opposition,” Gyurcsany insisted.

Concerning local politics, Gyurcsany said his party would support incumbent mayor Laszlo Botka, who “has held his post as county town mayor longest in the country”, in the 2024 municipal elections. He also called Szeged a “free, loyal, and European city”.