In eastern Hungary, a mayor applied for European Union funding to build a treetop canopy walkway to showcase the forest outside his village. The idea was approved, and a grant of about $175,000 was awarded in 2021. However, the mayor, who supports Hungary’s governing Fidesz party, cut down all the trees on his land before construction began, leaving the walkway overlooking an empty dirt expanse.
This project is just one of many in Hungary funded by the European Union to help bridge the economic gap between the bloc’s richer western members and newer entrants in the east. Despite criticizing the E.U., Prime Minister Viktor Orban has used E.U. funds to benefit his political allies.
The walkway has become a controversial topic, with opposition legislator Akos Hadhazy and news outlets critical of the government drawing attention to the misuse of funds. The E.U. has launched an investigation into the project, and the funding has been canceled.
The walkway has become a local attraction, with few visitors and some residents referring to it as the “Bridge of Sighs.” A journalist from an investigative news site even created a video analyzing the walkway as an avant-garde artwork, questioning whether the mayor was a corrupt official or a misunderstood genius.
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2024-03-20 04:25:22
Original from www.nytimes.com