The government backs the idea of consulting Budapest residents in a referendum on whether they want Fudan University to be located in the capital once the facts related to the investment are fully known, the prime minister’s chief of staff said.
Gergely Gulyás said in an interview to Mandiner that the investment was not at a stage suitable for public debate. That discussion should take place once the plans and financial terms are clear in around 18 months’ time, he added. Responding the opposition’s claim that Fudan University was proof of the government’s commitment to the East in preference to the West, Gulyás said that as a NATO and EU member Hungary need not make declarations of allegiance to the West. Hungary is part of the Western system of alliances, but it also seeks good relations with the world’s major powers, including China and Russia, he said.
Commenting on the opposition primaries, Gulyás insisted that the leader of the leftist Democratic Coalition, Ferenc Gyurcsány “and his people”, were busy in the background striking deals on prime ministerial candidates and other positions. “It is likely” that should the opposition prevail, Budapest Mayor Gergely Karácsony would become prime minister and DK candidate Klára Dobrev his deputy, he said.
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