Government accused of excluding Budapest from EU funds
January 17th, 2020The nationwide left-wing daily stands by its claim that the government has submitted to the European Union a financial scheme in which the Hungarian capital is left out of a list of target areas for European development funds.
Based on a Népszava story, the opposition media has accused the government of planning to ‘bleed Budapest dry’ after its electorate chose a left-liberal Mayor and an opposition majority city council in October. The pro-government media vehemently dismissed that claim as ‘fake news’.
In an unsigned editorial, Népszava defends its Monday story in which it described an unpublished government scheme for the regions that would benefit from European funds as a plan to leave Budapest without such development sources for the coming seven year period. The editors debunk reactions by the pro-government media which accuse the left-wing daily of spreading fake news. In the same issue, Népszava also carries an interview with the government commissioner in charge of major building projects in the capital, who says the document referred to by the daily to substantiate its claim must be an unsigned draft. The one submitted to Brussels, he claims, treats Budapest among the government’s priority candidates for EU funds.