On Thursday evening Government Spokesperson Zoltán Kovács told Hungarian television channel M1 that the opposition parties have betrayed the Olympics, thus dismantling national unity on the issue.

According to Mr. Kovács, it is especially painful to see an organisation claiming to be from civil society – but which was clearly established to serve political purposes – starting its operations with an act of destruction. He believes that the “Momentum Movement” must give an explanation of this to both its members and supporters.

He added that in this situation the only responsible decision for Budapest and the Hungarian Olympic Committee is to withdraw their bid to host the 2024 Olympics.

The Government Spokesperson continued by saying that the relevant parties will render an account of all the expenses which have been incurred to date in connection with the bid. In addition to the preparation, however, there are also expenses and damages that are not expected to be recovered – including resources allocated for marketing purposes.

(MTI)