At the ceremony held on the Day of the Capital, on the occasion of the 145th anniversary of the unification of Budapest, Mr Tarlós announced in the Prime Minister’s presence that before the event they signed a “far-reaching and comprehensive” agreement which will see “an improvement in the capital’s funding opportunities”.
The agreement signed by the Prime Minister of Hungary and the Mayor of Budapest can be found here. [1]
Today Budapest is on the threshold of enormous development
At the ceremony held after the signing of the agreement, Mr Orbán said in his speech that in the next decade the capital may live to see the most successful period in its history.
By 2030 Budapest may become one of the most liveable large cities in Europe, the continent’s safest capital offering a high quality of life, the Prime Minister stressed, adding that this aspiration requires well-organised, hard, joint work on the part of both the city management and the government, and this is why they formed, in agreement with Mayor of Budapest István Tarlós, the Council for Metropolitan Public Developments.
Since 2010 “we have made great strides”, said the Prime Minister who mentioned among the results achieved in Budapest the completion of metro line 4, the connected tram network, the refurbishment of the Parliament Building, Kossuth tér, the Music Academy, the Erkel Theatre, the Museum of Fine Arts and the Ludovika Building, as well as a number of sports projects, including Duna Arena and several new stadiums.
The reconstruction of Városliget and the refurbishment of the Opera House, the Museum of Applied Arts and metro line 3 are also under way. Additionally, the public development council will soon have to decide on the new national pentathlon centre; the historical buildings in the Buda Castle District are being restored to their former glory one by one; and the construction of the new South Buda priority hospital will also begin shortly, the Prime Minister listed.
[2]“The task we are undertaking is enormous; we have plans in the magnitude of thousands of billions of forints which we envisage to complete over a period of ten years”, Mr Orbán said. At the same time, in the context of planning for the period extending up to 2030, he drew attention to the fact that the Steindl and Hauszmann plans, too, took approximately 15 years to complete.
The Prime Minister highlighted that it is Budapest’s birthday today. Budapest is the eternal city for the Hungarian people, “a city which belongs to every Hungarian” wherever they may live around the world. Budapest is a national creation, a national performance and a national success. “A genuine national treasure”, he stressed, and described the construction of the capital as perhaps the greatest Hungarian communal feat of our modern-day history.
He also said that Budapest is the heart of the Hungarian nation, the capital of the nation, and home of the Budapest people all at once. As home of the Budapest people, the capital must be fully functional, organised, clean and beautiful, and it is the task of the mayor and the management of the city to ensure this, he said. He added that, at the same time, as the capital of the nation Budapest must radiate dignity, pride and greatness, which in turn is a common task of the government and the leadership of Budapest.
In his view, if Budapest performs ever better in this dual capacity, then it will also function as a natural centre of the Carpathian Basin for obvious geographical, size, economic, spiritual and cultural reasons.
“With the establishment of the Council for Metropolitan Public Developments, we are re-forging the alliance between the government and the people of Budapest which has already proved its worth”, Mr Orbán said, adding in conclusion that a strong Hungary needs a rising and prospering Budapest, while in turn a Budapest seeking to regain its former glory needs the strength and support of the whole of Hungary.