Hungary’s fireworks continue, but the weather agency dispute remains

BUDAPEST (Hungary) — Saturday’s fireworks show took place under calm skies in Budapest after a delay last weekend caused controversy. This led to the dismissal of top meteorologists from the country for their forecasts.

Saturday’s fireworks display at Budapest’s Danube River was the largest in Europe and it saw tens to thousands of people attend.

On Monday, two of the top officers at Hungary’s National Meteorological Service was fired. This happened after the government committee responsible for holiday events delayed the event based on a forecast by the weather service of heavy rain.

While storms were reported in other parts of Hungary, the ones that struck Budapest did not reach the capital. Kornelia Radics (weather service chief), who was employed since 2013,, and Gyula Horvath (her deputy), who were both in the same position since 2016,, lost their jobs.

GaborValter Tolczli was a spectator to Saturday’s fireworks display and said that he was shocked the fireworks had been delayed a week earlier because of a storm. Today, I’m not bothered by the delay because today there are less people .”

He added, however, that he was “outraged that the meteorologists were fired, because you can never predict the weather 100%.”

The firings led critics to accuse the Hungarian nationalist government led by Viktor Orban of using punitive pressure that was reminiscent of Hungary’s communist past.

Hungarian scientists and academics have complained for years about pressure on their independent scientific bodies. Orban’s government was also accused of corruption and nepotism.

This has caused clashes between the European Union and Hungary, who withheld billions of dollars in pandemic recovery funding from Hungary because it believes there are deficiencies in Hungary’s compliance with basic values and the rule-of-law.

Hungary claims the firings are related to Aug. 20’s forecast, but the minister responsible for the weather service was previously dissatisfied by its performance. Gergely Gulyas (Orban’s chief staff) said Tuesday that the weather service’s prediction of high likelihood of severe weather was not accurate. However, he stated in a press conference that it had been dissatisfied with its performance.

The government of Hungary appointed Laszlo Hanyecz as the interim head. He was previously vice-president for economic affairs at the weather service. Hanyecz was not a meteorologist and was not one of the 19 top officials of the agency. He signed a petition requesting the reinstatement for the fired weather chiefs.

Climate Without Borders is an international network for weather presenters. It released a letter that was signed by 76 people from 48 nations to show solidarity with the fire forecasters.

” As forecasters, the first task is to preserve life and property. The Hungarian meteorologists saw the danger and they warned about it.

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