Hungary’s government under Viktor Orbán wasted EU funds on projects that delivered little public value, including a treetop walkway built after clearing the forest it was meant to showcase and a low-speed rail line serving mostly empty trains.
How EU money funded projects with minimal use
In Nyírmártonfalva, the EU provided €176,000 for a treetop walkway designed to let tourists experience the forest canopy, but the local government cut down all trees along the route before construction, leaving the path elevated over bare ground.
The mayor, Mihály Filemon of Orbán’s Fidesz party, accepted the funding and later threatened legal action against independent media outlets like Telex that reported on the contradiction, claiming the coverage insulted and discredited him.
Why the Felcsút rail link raised questions about proportionality
Near Orbán’s hometown of Felcsút, nearly €2 million in EU funds went to build a six-kilometre railway connecting the Pancho Arena — a 3,900-seat stadium in a village of fewer than 2,000 people — to a nursery in Alcsútdobozi, despite low ridership.
Between 2016 and 2021, the train operated at minimal capacity, with independent outlet Atlatszo reporting it made only around 90 journeys per year, suggesting the infrastructure was vastly oversized for actual demand.
What this reveals about fund oversight under Orbán
These cases illustrate a pattern where EU money was used for high-visibility projects tied to local Fidesz allies, even when practical utility was lacking, pointing to weak alignment between funding goals and outcomes.
Was the treetop walkway ever used as intended?
No, the walkway was built after the forest was cleared, so it never passed through tree canopy as originally planned.
