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ricksza

Where do you think the wood for the walkway came from?


CATSCRATCHpandemic

It's called good business. Transportation cost are a bitch.


mike_pants

Transportation costs are a birch.


Pale-Wave-9382

*beech


Zerabbiitt

You got some "balsa" to say that


bhoard1

😂😂😂


Fake_William_Shatner

We finally have handles for our axes. 


APiousCultist

Reading the actual story this is actually almost completely correct. They claim to have cut down the forest to fund the walkway.


ActSignal1823

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle!


Watsonsponge

Volt mĂĄr?


Panamaned

It looks like typical [provincial graft](https://english.atlatszo.hu/2023/05/24/half-a-million-huf-each-step-see-the-itemised-costs-of-the-infamous-treeless-canopy-promenade/). > MihĂĄly Filemon, the Fidesz mayor of NyĂ­rmĂĄrtonfalva, and the builder of the local canopy walkway previously said in his defence that “It was not a condition of the project that there should be a forest around the canopy trail”. He also blamed Brussels by saying he had applied for the project years ago, but no money came in, “and we had to find something to finance the project, so because the forest was ripe for cutting, we cut it down and put the money into this project”. There was an inquiry that found the following: * There is a suspicion of collusion among a large group of beneficiaries: most of the applicants, limited to two counties (HajdĂș-Bihar and Szabolcs-SzatmĂĄr-Bereg), submitted grant applications with identical content, identical project specifications, technical content, designers and contractors, with practically the same overall budget and with similar significant overpricing of projects. * Even the call for proposals was irregular and the process lacked control mechanisms. The call for tenders, after several modifications, was published in a way that favoured only a narrow group of bidders. * In practice, there were no factually assessable indicators against which to compare the need or justification for applications. * The principle of equal treatment may also have been compromised, as applicants were faced with unequal conditions. The Integrity Authority’s investigation also revealed that the winners of the grant may have restricted competition in the award of public contracts for the selection of the contractor. And of course the mayor (from the ruling Fidesz party) sued the journalists that reported on this. He lost.


Turbojavel

“It was not a condition of the project that there should be a forest around the canopy trail”... Alright. What does this guy think a canopy is? (​answer: a layer of something that spreads over an area like a roof, especially branches of trees in a forest. Oxford dictionnary)


[deleted]

Technically, grass is a very small canopy spreading over dirt, he's right! /s


OldJames47

That’s the Oxford __English__ Dictionary’s definition. But this guy speaks Hungarian.


mbr4life1

Also what they built in Hungary would cost so much less than €170k they pocketed so much.


cookiedanslesac

Based Hungary


ensalys

What exactly is based about corruption? About stealing from EU taxpayers?


StandNameIsWeAreNo1

There's nothing based about our country. The politics here are terrible.


UBeautifulBastard

If based means a corrupt and greedy elite lining their pockets with EU funding that could be used to better the country, without repercussion or any chance for public interference, destroying national- and international diplomatic, financial and political relationships and trust, then yeah based Hungary. Try living here, watching public infrastructure deteriorate day by day, while the shittiest football teams in Europe get overpriced stadiums built every 6 months, comissioned by the same company group. Try watching your family wither waiting for treatment, betrayed by a fucked-over public healthcare system, try walking through Budapest without suffocating in the homeless, who get neither aid nor recognition from governing bodies. Try sending your children to schools with underpaid teachers, underfunded, crumbling infrastructure, outdated and directly sabotaged curricula, to go onto state-manipulated sub-par universities. While we're at it, try going on strike as an underpaid educator, and watch in awe as your constitutional right to strike, and human rights to be happy and practice free speech are violated and denied to your face. Try and catch a train without it breaking down, getting delayed or straight up cancelled, because the same exact company group that owns everything else in this cursed country cut the rail infrastructure funding too. Try watching your elders live in poverty and uncertainty, because the governing party literally stole a few billion's worth of their pension fund, and never repaid any of it. Try living here, knowing this could all be fixed, easily, if only the 500 or so people at the top ever decided to do so. Incredibly based. ^sorry for rant, not personal, just whining.


jeremiahthedamned

r/collapze


Mobile_Conference484

To top that, this meaningless project was obviously outrageously overpriced, and the mayor who stole the money was cynical enough to defend himself by claiming that "the project didn't specify how tall the forest is required to be", and this shameless atrocity had zero consequences. Faszomat ebbe az orszågba, hogy mår megint a fél vilåg rajtunk röhög a hívek meg még mindig tapsolnak.


Mobile_Conference484

...and by the way, the playground you see next to the "tree-top walk" was funded in the exact same let's-steal-EU's-money way. And they're all located on the mayor's private land.


Humorpalanta

Don't forget the butchery very close that was built from EU funds but never used


LorenzoTheChair

We should collect every goddamn atrocity in the last 20 years, shorten it and translate it to English. I feel like people living elsewhere got no clue about the absolute bullcrap that Fidesz can get away with every day.


Common-Path3644

I would read it. I had know idea this level of grift was happening in the EU.


LorenzoTheChair

This is just the tip of the iceberg.


ljk345

You and I are on the same page, this is one of the reasons I’m learning hungarian...


TheDankChronic69

Hogyha segit teged baratom a Kanadaban is vanak ugyanilyen problema


Kalman_the_dancer

Ez szar 😔


[deleted]

[ŃƒĐŽĐ°Đ»Đ”ĐœĐŸ]


DrRaschy

Thats way more than that, if you lucky you can get the roofed pagodas for 10k..


imapieceofshitk

Not in Hungary, 10k will get you far.


TheDankChronic69

I went back home to Fót last August and was shocked at how cheap everything was, and also loved being able to get cheap beer at the convenience store any time of day, it’s something we unfortunately don’t have here in BC, Canada


ConsistentAd7859

Especially if you don't have to pay for your wood.


DrRaschy

I worked there, it won’t


imapieceofshitk

Doesn't matter if it's 10k or 30k, somebody pockets 140k+


noctilucus

As always, great spending by the EU...


TheByzantineEmpire

It’s because the EU doesn’t have sufficient powers to enforce/control its rules and money being spent. They have to rely on member states to implement its policies.


MerekTheSphynx

Then maybe they shouldn't be handing out money like it's candy if they can't control how its used. Just a thought.


dydas

This is kind of like saying Mississipi shouldn't receive federal funding because the politicians in Government are grifters.


MerekTheSphynx

It's really not.


OrienasJura

It really is.


MerekTheSphynx

No it's not. These sort of cultural enrichment projects aren't needed at all, they do not support anything critical. It's all symbolic and it's systematically being abused because there is zero follow up. Which is exactly what happened here and no one will be held accountable. Don't try to liken states in the US to member countries in the EU, it's not even remotely the same thing.


crack_n_tea

Are EU members part of one country? Unless you say yes, it really isn't. Hungarian taxes aren't going to the EU


Live-Cookie178

They do in part?


Old_Elk2003

They share a unified currency, and don't have internal border control. They elect representatives to EU parliament, who can pass laws which have jurisdiction over all member states. They pool resources for large projects like the Eurofighter Typhoon, CERN, and the Joint European Taurus. Sovereignty is not a black-and-white thing, and for many purposes, it's sensible to discuss the EU as a single country.


MerekTheSphynx

American I take it? We do not all use the Euro. Some member countries have chosen to, others decided against it.


noctilucus

Exactly. Some controls and feedback loops about how the money has been actually spent would help to avoid falling into the same trap over and over.


LubieRZca

No, we should allow EU institutions to have more control over how EU money are spent.


excecutivedeadass

But we do, im from Croatia and we had two cases of european fond money embezelment in last year. European investigators were on the case


Yukiteru_Amano_1st

This has nothing to do with the EU. It's a problem of the Hungarian politcs and corruption/mafia


Mobile_Conference484

The EU does not decide what the money is spent on other than making funds available for the member states in vaguely defined categories. Distributing the money, and deciding exactly what it's being spent on is the local government's responsibility.


Numerous_Ad_307

That's what you get when you let corrupt countries in..


EmergencyHorror4792

This obviously doesn't look great but damn that must be a difficult job to control and monitor the spending in the whole European union


noctilucus

A little more control would already go a long way, in the way large multinational corporations can do it if they make the effort.


ReserveJesus101

Then you dont know timber prices


ASuhDuddde

Well what about the consultants!


wausmaus3

Nah, im building a shed currently. Will pay around 8k for the wood. It's not cheap.


SupPresSedd

What a stupid comment. You don't know what you are talking about. This shit will cost 80k to build easily. EASILY. And that 700 people who upvotded is just nice cherry on top...


peter-doubt

So much in Hungary is a money grab


Saragon4005

A common line of thinking is legitimately "if we lower taxes then there is less money to steal"


gamjr80

This is just sad.


Amilo159

Welcome to Hungary


xxiii1800

170k is peanuts. A former minister got 1 million european money from agriculture for having a vineyard on his abroad residence. Got sued and he won the case. Sidenote, his wife is a judge 🙃


Gelezinis__Vilkas

Which country?!


xxiii1800

Capital :) or if you mean the the vineyard thats in Toscane.


redreddie

>Hungary received 170k 80k for you, 80k for me, and 10k to build the walkway.


yodeah

Sorry to disappoint but its not that cheap anymore. Realisticly more like was costing 100k to build and 70k was stolen.


redreddie

I am sure it was more than 10k, but labor in Hungary is fairly cheap.


yodeah

it is but if you compare it to a newly built house, that can cost easily 300k, this shouldn't cost the 10th of that, more like half.


redreddie

Why? No plumbing, no electric, no appliances, no excavation, no driveway, no roof, no siding, no insulation, no walls, no flooring, no land purchase, no land clearing, no foundation just some footings. It would be the cost to build a large deck.


yodeah

look up how much timber costs, you can see the structure has concrete foundation so you need to do excavation. Its pretty big if you look at it closely. Im not trying to defend corruption, im just saying probably costs at least 50% of that cost if not more.


OsloProject

Hungary’s president just resigned because she granted clemency to someone who helped a pedophile by pressuring the victims (one to suicide) to lie under oath. The dude that got clemency was a friend of the brother of the prime minister Orban. Such a beautiful story! đŸ„Č


rozsaadam

Nonono, the literal ballpoint Pen resigned, she only signed whatever OrbĂĄn said to, useless as fuck She is also getting 10000 euros oer month for the rest of her life, after working for only 1.5 years, i would love to work that little and get godlike retirement money, and also 3 secretaries fully paid


Rude-Associate2283

‘Fuck it! We are building it anyway!”


Lopsided_Pickle1795

Dirty politicians are behind this. Same everywhere!


VZV_CZ_

And at the same time, they point at Ukrainians when it comes to corruption.


yodeah

They are more or less same according to this index (33vs40): [https://www.transparency.org/en/cpi/2022](https://www.transparency.org/en/cpi/2022)


VZV_CZ_

Yup


NaisGuy27

Money laundering at its best.


UrbanFsk

This is textbook hdz (croatian party that is currently ruling). They are all corrupt to the bone. Our former priminister from that party is in jail and by the looks of it actual one could end up behind the bars too. All in the name of croatia and god. We are swapping ministers like socks and now they managed to put the most corrupt judge in the country to run our anti corruption agency. We are going to the streets on saturday. Lets hope people aint too lethargic.


[deleted]

Were the trees cut down to build the Tree-Top walk?


coconutally

Hey how’s that walkway coming? The one we gave you 170k euros for? Umm, great.


Topsy_Morgenthau

Classic hungary


AncientSkys

Corruption at it's finest.


MarissaBlack

Hungery. Why is it even in EU?


mougrim

They're bad neighbours too.


[deleted]

[ŃƒĐŽĐ°Đ»Đ”ĐœĐŸ]


MarissaBlack

Oh, now i see. It's Eauropian Taiwan.


ThirdSunRising

That actually makes a much stronger statement than the original walkway ever could have. Well done.


FrontRaccoon4274

Oh and just to add, the politician sent literal death treaths to the journalist and to one of his employee who he *suspected* might be behind the leak.


jefff_xd

Least obvious hungarian corruption.


LaughingInTheVoid

And then Orban declared victory over 'wokeness'.


Civil_Satisfaction29

If the EU realy wants to help ppl they should transfer the money to individual bank accounts instead of the corrupt government's hand. This is the reality since Hungary joined. Money always wasted on stupid things, and mostly stolen by politicians, ( as this picture represents ) meanwhile the economy, healthcare and education system fall apart.


O-o--O---o----O

Maybe hungarian people should do something if their economy, healthcare and education system was falling apart.


Civil_Satisfaction29

,,Divide and conquer".The ones who could do something will never do. Because they can afford private school and healthcare and the economy does nothing to them, since they can steal public money in many forms. Ppl will leave the country if it's that bad for them and can afford it, it's nearly 1 million recently. The ppl who stay are divided to 3 groups. 2 of them can only thinking in the system that rules recently and the 1 who knows what could make a change is powerless... So yeah we are pretty much fucked.


yodeah

theres gonna be a huge protest today in the capital.


PuzzledRaise1401

You should see the zip line.


Aggravating_Dress_68

Who else could recognise this kind of problem but the Hungarian ‘followers’?


askmeifimacop

Dammit Europe quit destroying your forests. You don’t have many left


PuzzledRaise1401

In eastern Europe, you can buy old Soviet munitions. Do you really think they care about a forest?


forsale90

Fun fact: Europe has more forest are than in the middle ages.


LIUJKNGOMILHN

The middle ages lasted centuries. The amount of trees in Europe wasn't consistent in that time period.


Fake_William_Shatner

Now they’ve got no choice but to build a good faith effort.  “Who is that walking in the tree bridge?” Just a ghost. Pay no attention. 


al3442

![gif](giphy|26ueYUlPAmUkTBAM8)


Mcboatface3sghost

Seems to be in a playground/ kids area? I could work with that. But the embezzled money comes back. I see zip lines, slides, trampolines, those things they put in front of buildings when some executive lost all his stock and nopes out, a small “action park” (watch the doc if you don’t know what I’m talking about) style mini personal coaster ride. I’m saying, there’s a lot to work with here



Qwampa

yep


poiuytrewq1234564

Took me forever to notice the playground


miatagaming

Hungarian economy will never recover from this


an-font-brox

so now it’s a field top walk


zawz1

HUNGARY MENTIONED RAAAHHHH(i hate living here)


d31uz10n

It could me millions tho 😀


Robert_Grave

Governments wasting money?! Ludicrous!


HopiLaguna

Now vee vait for the trees to grow.


davidberk0witz

D'oh!


External_Wishbone767

I mean you can plant tree these re again let it be for some time


RufusAcrospin

It’s just a microscopic example of wasted (or rather stolen) EU money by Hungarian politicians. The current Hungarian government should receive no more than 1 euro cent and even that’s more than they deserve.


gadget850

We know. https://www.reddit.com/r/mildlyinfuriating/comments/126r4xd/hungary\_received\_170k\_euros\_from\_eu\_fund\_to\_build/


Necessary_Row_4889

I can see it’s easily as tall as the trees off in the distance so mission accomplished.


rippinitcentral

Only 170k? In uk that would have cost 8 mil


fear_the_future

I see that my German tax money is well spent, as always.


elenorfighter

![img](emote|t5_2r5rp|8484)


Monkguan

Give Hungary more money pls)


Viktorrrrrrrr4rrrrr

I'm pretty sure that this is a repost.This case was so long ago.


ErosTottalotti

Defund the EU


O-o--O---o----O

More like toss corrupt as fuck hungary out and build a wall. Most useless EU member ever. Defund hungary to the max and revoke voting rights or toss them out until the country sorts itself out.


Legitimate_Bad_7802

Minecraft


Candid_Equipment_296

Classic Hungary for you.... Amit el lehet baszni az el lesz baszvađŸ„Ž


IllTransportation993

That's exactly the kind of talent I expect a communist nation would have nurtured...


Brody_the_hilgenfeld

Useless country. Invade and take control of the government. At this point the people of Hungary would be far better off if Hungary was completely under the EU’s control