Viktória Lőrincz alleges political misuse of Magyar Falu Program

Minister of Rural and Settlement Development Viktória Lőrincz has accused the previous administration of misusing the Magyar Falu Program (Hungarian Village Program). She claims the initiative, which was presented as a rural development scheme, functioned primarily as a system for financing municipal renovations distributed based on political considerations rather than professional criteria.

Lőrincz cited a study commissioned by the previous government which noted a lack of publicly accessible planning documents to monitor the program's effectiveness or goals. She alleged that the distribution of funds was politically motivated, specifically pointing to the constituency of Alpár Gyopáros, who served as the program's government commissioner from 2018.

Data from the Institute of Agricultural Economics indicates that over 15 billion HUF was allocated to the 3rd constituency of Győr-Moson-Sopron, the area where Gyopáros ran for election. Lőrincz noted the irony of these high allocations occurring in a region that is not among the country's poorest. The government intends to continue rural support through the Szent István Program, which aims to involve local communities in decision-making processes.