Budapest mayor appoints commissioner for green environment

Budapest Mayor Istvan Tarlos on Monday appointed a municipal commissioner to oversee issues around the city's green infrastructure. In his justification of the appointment, Tarlos said that "hysterical" remarks concerning the retention of trees and green areas in the city had "exponentially" increased in recent months, adding, at the same time, that it was necessary to ensure that objectives as laid out in Budapest's climate and green infrastructure development strategies were met. Commissioner Jozsef Szabo, head of municipal parks manager Fokert, will be tasked with overseeing the implementation of those objectives as well as "giving fast and justified responses" to such remarks and providing "truthful" communication.