“Miskolc should try and stay on the winning side,” the prime minister said. He called on local residents to choose between election candidates based on their personal experience “rather than on my political comments” and vote for capable deputies and a suitable mayor. Orbán said there was “no need” for him to tour the country before the upcoming municipal elections, adding, however, that he was visiting Miskolc because that city “is a cause of honour”. He voiced support for Zoltán Alakszai, the ruling parties’ candidate for mayor. Orbán praised the achievements of Ákos Kriza, Miskolc’s outgoing mayor, who he said “has done a fantastic job”. “Kriza’s legacy should not be destroyed; let us not allow this city to become an opposition stronghold, and the achievements of previous years devastated by political fights,” he said. Under Kriza, the city has seen job-creating investments and has become “twice as safe” as before, Orbán said. If the mayor “is somebody I can cooperate with we will certainly complete the projects that will make the city not only safe but beautiful”, he said.