The decision is radical. The Hungarian government fired the president of the National Meteorological Agency (NMS) and her deputy on Monday, two days after postponing a major fireworks display planned in Budapest for the National Day, amid fears of bad weather.
Kornelia Radics and Gyula Horvath were removed from their posts by Minister of Technology and Industry Laszlo Palkovics, who heads the organization, the ministry said in a statement, which did not include an explanation.
The announcement comes a day after pro-government media criticized the weather agency, whose forecasts of thunderstorms and gusty winds led to the cancellation of Saturday’s fireworks display. “They gave misleading information about the extent of the bad weather, which misled the response team responsible for security,” wrote the online newspaper Origo.
“No, it is not a dictatorship in Central Asia; it’s hungary”
In 2006, the celebrations were marred by a violent storm that killed five people and injured several hundred, sparking panic among more than a million people who had gathered to watch the spectacle on the banks of the Danube.
The NMS agency “apologized” on Sunday, citing “an element of uncertainty inherent in the meteorologist’s profession”. In a reaction posted to Facebook, Liberal Andras Fekete-Györ quipped: “They couldn’t produce the weather they wanted, they got fired. No, it is not a dictatorship in Central Asia; it is the Hungary of Fidesz”, after the name of the party in power.
The fireworks, presented as “the largest in Europe” to celebrate “Hungary’s millennial state,” has been rescheduled for August 27. The opposition asked for its complete annulment in July, denouncing it as “a useless waste of money” at a time when nationalist Viktor Orban’s government is demanding efforts from citizens to overcome a difficult economic period.