According to the government's hopes, the Ferihegy airport will return to majority state ownership within days, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán announced in parliament on Monday.

As this happens, the government will also decide on the issue of the infrastructure leading there - the prime minister answered an immediate question about the railway line leading to the airport.

The prime minister was asked by Máté Kanász-Nagy of the LMP about developments in Budapest, accusing the government of pursuing a "policy of punishments and torture" towards the capital.

"Let's see what it's like when the government makes Budapest suffer: first of all, we took over HUF 280 billion in debt in 2010-11, which the previous city administration brought together under István Tarlós," Viktor Orbán responded.

He added: HUF 4,000 billion have been spent on development in Budapest in recent years.

He emphasized: he loves the city and the people of Budapest, but the country does not consist only of Budapest.

He asked the LMP representatives: when such questions are asked after a HUF 4,000 billion development history in the capital, the assumption of a HUF 280 billion debt, and the current investment in Budapest with hundreds of billions of HUF of state money, what do they think of the rest of the country.

"Because you're from Budapest, is it right for you? Rather, they should be thankful that the government takes seriously the fact that this is the capital of the nation and gives a disproportionate amount to this capital," said the Prime Minister.

DK's Gergely Arató asked Prime Minister Viktor Orbán when he would accept responsibility in the amnesty case and when he would apologize to the victims on behalf of himself and the entire Fidesz.

In his response, Viktor Orbán stated: the government has not interfered in pardon cases so far and does not intend to interfere in the future.

Cases of clemency belong exclusively to the President of the Republic.

that , as head of state, Katalin Novák granted a pardon in a case in which it should not have been necessary, because "pedophiles and people who help pedophiles belong in prison".

With the resignation of the President of the Republic, the case was closed, and the government had two things to do. The first is to have a new president of the Republic of Hungary as soon as possible, who does not make the same mistake as his predecessor. That is why Tamás Sulyok was recommended. The second task of the government is to take the initiative to "exclude once and for all the possibility that perpetrators of pedophile crimes or those involved in them can receive leniency or pardon from anyone, at any time, in any form".

In his reply, Gergely Arató objected that while the Prime Minister says that the government does not deal with pardons, the government negotiated pardons in the Budaházy case.

He also said that, in the person of Tamás Sulyok, they managed to elect a president of the republic who had not even taken his oath, but had already been lied to "about his pro-Arrow, anti-Semitic relatives".

In his reply, Viktor Orbán rejected the allegation regarding Tamás Sulyok.

He indicated that the government has discussed cases and will continue to do so - but these have nothing to do with pardon cases - where they find that court judgments and proceedings are delayed, and moreover, cases that are also of public interest. It is the job of the Minister of Justice to ensure the smooth operation of the judicial system.

He also said that in 2010, when he took over the government from the left, there were 81 pedophile criminals in prison, and now there are 663.

MTI

Cover image: Prime Minister Viktor Orbán speaks at the plenary session of the National Assembly
MTI/Szilárd Koszticsák