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If hooligans begin throwing seats at a football match and hold a racist demonstration, then the club gets punished - even though it was not the club that incited the crowd. It seems to me that Hungarian politics should not be held to less strict criteria than the catastrophic world of Hungarian football. But it would seem that centuries-old trees, stands, roofs are as nothing compared to the sturdiness of the politicians' velvet chairs.

We are used to the idea that not even the most clumsy moves have no consequences for politicians mid-term. That there have been one or two exceptions just strengthens the rule. If a politician is caught holding a wrung chicken, then our noble statesmen will certainly claim that the unfortunate animal committed suicide and that he was just trying to resuscitate it. It is this kind of picture that looms before our eyes when we look at the recent catastrophic celebration and the way the people in charge point to everyone and their underlings but never to themselves.

Gabor Demszky has always had trouble with the weather. Last year, when he issued a hurricane alert - for political reasons, many believe - no heavy winds came. This year, when he should have, he failed to study the latest weather reports. But the government was little better. The Prime Minister's Office singled out a department head, the duty weather forecaster and the fire brigade commander, all of whom deserved a better fate. We are not claiming that these officials bear no responsibility for what happened. But the organisations they worked for all have hierarchies and chains of command. At a million-person event it is fair to expect that the people in charge should be in continuous contact with their staff, receiving regular reports on the situation.

Maybe only the three mid-ranking officials could have taken the decision at that moment. But occasions like 20 August are perfect opportunities for those in power to enhance their prestige. Our good leaders hand out honours and awards and spend our tax forints on fireworks that get more beautiful from year to year. What official would be so bold as to call off a parade set to attract 100,000 people - only then to be sacked if it turns out that the alert was just a false alarm? If the official is proved right, then he won't get the credit. Rather, the far-seeing, wise leaders will take a bow. Furthermore, it looks like only minimal emergency plans were in place.

This comes as little surprise in a country where playgrounds, football grounds, swimming pools and railway crossings are all accidents waiting to happen. The reason is a lack of money and a lack of commitment from officials.

Probably something similar happened at this year's display. There had not been an accident for decades, so nobody was too concerned with sticking to the rules. Most of the politicians and officials in charge preferred to enjoy their day off whilst basking in the reflected glory of the occasion. They had little interest in regularly calling their staff to ask if everything was going well. An apology would be in order, nonetheless.

Tamás László Papp

HVG English version

Budapest on Budapest

The people of Budapest worry less about traffic jams, car emissions or crowding than about tramps, the homeless and dog dirt, a new survey conducted by Median for HVG has shown.

hvg.hu English version

Changing figures

The government recently changed the way it calculates the budget deficit. It forecast a deficit of 8.8 per cent of GDP for 2006, even though it already stood at 8 per cent in June. When prime minister Ferenc Gyurcsany and finance minister Janos Veres met with Joaquin Almunia, the European Union finance commissioner, the trio agreed that Hungary's convergence programme could only be accepted if the costs of building motorways were accounted for within the budget. This accounting change forced revisions to the 2007 and 2008 deficit plans and meant that the introduction of the euro had to be postponed to 2011 or later.

HVG English version

Laszlo Lengyel

Viktor Orban might have helped Fidesz escape from its present travails. The radical Christian national strategy failed with the December 2004 referendum. If Orban had managed quickly to clamber out of the hole, turning to the Europewards leading path of the civic liberal, liberal-conservative cities and businessmen, he might have won in spring 2006.

hvg.hu English version

Storm in Budapest

A storm in Budapest has claimed three lives, including that of a twelve-year-old girl, and some 200 casualties. At least 240 people were injured, and two were washed away by the Danube. Gabor Demszky, the mayor of Budapest, has called for an inquiry. The National Meterological Service had correctly forecast that the storm would reach the capital just when the fireworks began.

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A Kadarist package

The parties may one day take a back seat, ceding their place to a government of experts, the historian Maria Schmidt believes. She said both the left- and right-wing press was unable to recognise the real danger and distinguish between moderates and the real extremists. The political elite has difficulties with its communications strategies, much of society is trapped, and the resulting despair may nourish a process of radicalisation.

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Grass and Istvan Szabo

Gunther Grass's shocking confessions about his past have recent parallels in Hungary. Grass donned a black uniform. Szabo wrote reports on his friends and classmates. But both come out of their scandals rather well. Istvan Szabo did not become less popular as a result of his informant past. Grass's sudden burst of honesty can have done little harm to sales of his recently published autobiography.

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Hogyan éljünk együtt a mesterséges intelligenciával? – 3. rész: Egy szoftver minden felett

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Az ízek ajándéka – a legjobb gasztrokönyvek karácsonyra

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Orbán szerint tüdőn lőné a magyar gazdaságot, ha a GDP öt százalékára kellene emelni a NATO-kiadásokat

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