Stop spending government money on fireworks celebrations, opposition says

From Hungary Today

Hungary’s Green Party wants money spent on “troubled artists.”

The opposition LMP party has called on the government to cancel the traditional fireworks in Budapest on the August 20 national holiday, and use the funds to help troubled artists, LMP co-leader János Kendernay told an online press conference on Saturday.

“There is no room for spending on luxury amid an economic and social crisis,” Kendernay said.

Kendernay said that the fireworks, a tourist attraction, would increase coronavirus-related risks, too. He went on to say that the spectacle was “old fashioned and harmful for the environment, and a source of trauma and physical harm to many pets and people”.

The funds should be used to help actors, musicians, and other artists whom the epidemic has stripped of all their income, Kendernay said.

https://hungarytoday.hu/lmp-government-spend-fireworks-funds-culture/

On Aug. 20, Hungarians celebrate the foundation of the Kingdom of Hungary by St. Stephen.

The LMP is Hungary’s Green Party.