Hungarian MPs agreed on Monday to reduce their income by 40%, to help ease the burden on public finances and strengthen the image of probity associated with the new Prime Minister Peter Magyar, in a tense budget context, reports France Presse and Agerpres.
“It's about modesty,” he said last month to justify the measure, which was unanimously adopted by the 189 lawmakers present, quickly after his victory in April's legislative elections.
Starting next month, the basic salary of Hungarian MPs will be 3,690 euros gross, the savings representing, according to the conservative majority, one year of expenses for the functioning of the parliament.
Reimbursement of mobile phone bills is being suppressed, alongside cuts in parliamentary allowances for office rent, housing and staff pay.
Prime Minister Peter Magyar linked this reform to the need to make savings in a context where there is a need for sobriety and the fight against corruption in the EU member state.
In nationalist Viktor Orban's 16 years in power, it has cost Hungary at least 186 billion euros, according to Ferenc Biro, head of the Integrity Authority, a national body.
In an interview given on Sunday to a collective of citizens mobilized for democratic issues (“De Akciokozosseg”), this official stated that the former government asked him not to fulfill his control mission.
