Hungary will reject any conditions attached to the European Union’s coronavirus rescue package, the head of the Prime Minister’s Office said. EU member states are in the best position to decide how the rescue funds should be spent, Gergely Gulyás told a regular press briefing, adding that the Hungarian government plans to enact measures to reboot the economy, create jobs and boost growth. When Prime Minister Viktor Orbán negotiates at the EU summit this weekend, he will be bound by a remit approved by the Hungarian parliament. Hungarian lawmakers will have the sole authority to make any changes regarding the coronavirus rescue package in light of the summit’s conclusions. If conditions are attached to the loan package, the prime minister will have to submit them to parliament for another debate, Gulyás said. He said the government’s position was clear: the loan will be taken out jointly by EU member states and therefore “conditions must not be set”. In view of the wide gaps between the positions of the member states, the success of the EU summit “seems rather uncertain”, he said. If a deal is forthcoming, the loan agreement could be ratified by parliament in the summer or in September the latest, he added.
Commenting on the revamp of Budapest’s 3rd metro line, he said that notwithstanding the fact that the undertaking is a task of the metropolitan council, the government was still prepared to contribute 80 billion forints (EUR 266m) to the project. The government, he added, had been “patiently waiting” for the past seven months for the metropolitan council to invite public procurement tenders for the Chain Bridge, he said. Commenting on the transfer of Volánbusz coach company to national railway company MÁV, he said the move was expected to improve coordination between bus and train services. He said the respective companies had received just criticism for not coordinating their services. He noted that the bus and train stations in most towns are located far from each other and, he added, improvements in this area were needed.
In response to a question as to whether the government would engage in consultation talks with professional organisations regarding government incentives to build housing on brownfield sites, he said the areas for planned construction will be designated in the autumn. The government, he added, was open to holding broader consultations, but talks with local municipalities were its top priority. On the subject of Hungary’s fence on the southern border, he said the country had not received any EU funding for border protection. The EU has transferred 20 million euros for wage supplements to be paid to personnel protecting the Schengen borders, he added. Meanwhile, Gulyás noted that the EU had previously planned to set up a compulsory distribution mechanism that would have obliged all member states to receive migrants, but the proposal has not been approved. He said the Hungarian government trusted that approval would not be forthcoming in the future, either.
Meanwhile, the ban on holding public events with more than 500 participants will remain in effect until August 15, the prime minister’s chief of staff said, adding that the cabinet will review the situation and take a decision on any changes at the end of this month. Answering a question, Gulyás said the chief medical officer and the operative board in charge of containing the coronavirus epidemic had decided to maintain measures and now the number of Covid-19 cases is gradually dropping. Gulyás said that ideally Hungary’s borders should be sealed but this would be unfair given that many Hungarians live abroad. Anyone presenting a certificate that they are free of the virus are exempt from having to go into quarantine, he added.