Alexandra Szentkirályi, the ruling Fidesz party’s candidate for mayor of Budapest, has said she believes in Budapest and is ready to fight for the city.
“I am preparing for a job that calls for rolling up my sleeves,” she told Mandiner on Thursday. “I am a politician focused on discipline,” Szentkirályi said, adding that “we have a clear vision of what kind of a city we would like to see as the nation’s capital.” “Budapest is the centre of all Hungarians in terms of culture and is of special significance in terms of its economic strength.” She said that while the Fidesz-led government had carried out several development projects in the capital, including City Park, the State Opera House, the National Dance Theatre and the completion of the fourth metro line, “all the left has done was present visions about power, being unable to look beyond their own interests”. Szentkirályi criticised Gergely Karácsony, the incumbent mayor, describing him as a “controversial politician”, who she said had found “an enemy in the government that offered its cooperation which the mayor rarely accepted”. “The problem is with his approach, not the opportunities,” Szentkirályi said, arguing that Karácsony had failed to deliver on 75% of the long-term programme goals he announced after being elected in 2019.