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KARÁCSONY HAILS 'HISTORIC VICTORY'

 

A historic victory has taken place in Budapest, Gergely Karácsony said after winning the Budapest municipal election amid high turnout. Viktor Orbán said the results in the country showed that the ruling Fidesz-KDNP alliance was still Hungary’s strongest force.

István Tarlós, the outgoing Budapest mayor, congratulated Karácsony, the joint opposition candidate, who won 50.62% of the vote with over 90% of the votes counted. “This victory is about a green and free Budapest,” Karácsony said, adding that October 14 would mark “the start of a new era for Hungary in its quest to regain its freedom”. Karácsony pledged to put relations between the capital and the government on a new footing. He added that he would not be preparing for war but for even-handed cooperation with the Hungarian government.
Orbán said the election campaign had been “a tough, big and open political battle” as should be the case in a democracy based on a competition between parties. He said that for the past nine years, the force representing the governing majority had taken the helm of Budapest. “But today residents of the capital have decided that something else comes next,” he added. “We’ll take this into consideration and, in the interests of the country and the people who live in Budapest, we are ready to work together,” Orbán said.