The Gyurcsány government leased the airport for 75 years and collected 464.5 billion forints. The Orbán government is offering 1,400 billion forints to buy out the foreign operators 56 years before the contract expires. According to this, "sovereignty" is worth three times more than the "failed privatization."
Throughout Hungary, dozens of current and former mayors undeterred by the court proceedings, investigations or significant public scandals revolving around them are running once again for the office. Many have a chance to be re-elected on June 9, despite court rulings hanging above their heads like a sword of Damocles: should they be eventually sentenced to prison with final effect, their mayoral positions will be lost as per Hungarian law.
In just a few weeks, Hungary’s party system has been turned upside down by Péter Magyar’s newly founded Tisza Party. According to the current situation, five lists could be sending representatives to the European Parliament, but there is unusually large variation among surveys regarding whether the leading force of the opposition stands behind Péter Magyar or former Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsány. An averaging of the polls might bring us closer to the truth.
According to a prominent department head at ELTE, one of the most prestigious state universities, it is clearly solely a matter of political decision whether the state is willing to allocate an amount completely insignificant from a budgetary perspective to address the minimal adjustment of instructors' salaries – which have not shown an increase in the past two years, despite high inflation.