According to a new decision, floodlights will be turned off after midnight on several important and popular sights in Budapest, like the Chain Bridge or the Buda Castle, while the office of Viktor Orbán and the residence of János Áder will be lit up.
RTL Klub News reports that from now on, after midnight, the Széchenyi Chain Bridge and the Buda Castle will both fall into darkness. They will be stripped of decorative lights, while the Sándor Palace (the residence of the President of Hungary, János Áder) and the Carmelite monastery (the Prime Minister, Viktor Orbán’s office) will both remain lit up with floodlights. Both buildings are right next to the Buda Castle.
The Sándor Palace has been the residence of the respective President of Hungary since 2003, while Orbán’s decision to move the prime minister’s office from the Parliament to the Carmelite monastery came in January.
You can see the change in the first 25 seconds of this video:
RTL News has enquired about the reason for not turning off the lights on these two particular buildings from a government spokesman, István Hollik, but
Hollik clearly stated that the government is not responsible for this decision. He shifted blame from the government to the company in charge of floodlights in Budapest,
the Decorative and Public Lighting BDK Budapest Kft., who are overseeing public lights in Budapest as a whole, so they are indeed the ones who literally turn off the lights on the Chain Bridge and the Buda Castle.
RTL has contacted BDK, asking the same question that was addressed to Hollik, but the channel has not received an answer. After this, they have turned to the General Assembly of Budapest, who are shareholders at BDK, but they were left empty-handed once again.
Opposition party MSZP criticised the government for trying to save money in vain by turning off lights on main sights.
featured image: https://rtl.hu