Debrecen was the Sunday destination of Anna Donáth’s series of countryside trips. The event was held at the Kölcsey Cultural Center. At the beginning of his introductory speech, local council representative Bence Szabó noted that the Debrecen city government will hold a board meeting in this very room next Thursday. He stated with regret that, in his opinion, the board consists of representatives who do not work for Debrecen, but for the interests of the Fidesz party.
“That is why there is no possibility for the Civaqua project to be completed, to protect the Great Forest, Fancsika, Vekeri, our lands and our waters” – said Bence Szabó, but he believes that all is not lost, as a responsible city administration can change this. Then he conferred with the politician he finds suitable for this: his party partner, László Mándi, who announced his candidacy for mayor on Friday. László Mándi began his speech by saying that, in his opinion, Debrecen is not going in the right direction. The government pours hundreds of billions of public money into the city like there’s no tomorrow, according to Mándi, the city management spends it with honor. The mayoral candidate of the anti-battery factory coalition believes that Debrecen is moving towards where the government has marked the path for it. The people of Debrecen, on the other hand, are not asked what they think about this – although according to Mándi, this would be the minimum.
He recalled that Mayor László Papp said a few years ago when presenting the Debrecen 2030 program, “in 10 years they won’t recognize Debrecen”. This, according to László Mándi, will be realized in an industrial city with desertification, poisoned water and polluted air, dominated by gigafactories. He also said that the people of Debrecen will be able to work in the factories for Eastern European wages, which are kept low by the guest workers, while in the shops they can shop at Western prices, or even more expensive. According to Mándi, Debrecen did not imagine such a future. He then listed the unfinished renovations: railway station, four-lane, non-continuation of the panel program, non-establishment of schools and kindergartens. László Mándi believes that Debrecen is moving in a life-threatening direction, speeding without brakes towards the battery disaster. Chinese mega-investors will dominate the city, he added.
“Debrecen needs a new mayor and a completely new city administration. For those who ask the opinion of the people of Debrecen and do not take the city in a direction that the population does not want” – said László Mándi, referring to the fact that there will be an opportunity to change in next year’s municipal election. Anna Donáth said that the country is in a serious crisis: several at once, and they affect us all. She mentioned the amazing economic and inflationary situation, and also drew attention to the crisis in education and the poor state of our foreign economic relations. Anna Donáth mentioned the unprecedentedly high value of the public budget deficit as a concrete example. According to Donáth, the government uses austerity measures to reduce the deficit, even though it tries to deny it. There is work, but there is no respect and prosperity, explained the Momentum EP representative. Anna Donáth pointed out: “we have become the poorhouse of Europe, perhaps we are only ahead of the Bulgarians in terms of how much we can buy with our salary.” She also reminded that inflation in Hungary is three times higher than the EU average.
According to Anna Donáth, the nation’s most serious crisis in the future affects education. According to her data, there is an amazing shortage of teachers, and some of the students want to start high school abroad. “One of the most serious problems is that the country is in a value crisis” – declared Donáth, who sees that we have reached the point where we are at each other’s throats due to differences of opinion. She also brought good news: it doesn’t have to be this way, and there is hope as long as the mothers in Mikepércs and Debrecen unite against the toxic battery factories. At the end of her speech, Anna Donáth also reminded her audience of the 2024 municipal elections.
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