AFP

Rocketing energy bills are forcing Hungary to shutter libraries, theatres, swimming pools and even its new football stadiums for winter.

The state-of-the-art grounds — symbols of right-wing nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s 12 years in power — are among a long list of buildings no longer able to cope with rising energy prices in the central European country.

Despite being one of the country’s richest cities and being run by Orban’s own party, Szekesfehervar is one of many closing its museums, libraries and theatres.

Its new 14,000-capacity city-run stadium also pulled down its shutters this month to save costs, said mayor Andras Cser-Palkovics.

“Community spaces are what make a city. No one was happy about the measures but they accepted that they are needed,” Cser-Palkovics, a member of Orban’s ruling Fidesz party, told AFP in Szekesfehervar’s City Hall.

– ‘Won’t wait for miracles’ –

Like other cities, Szekesfehervar, 60 kilometres (37 miles) southwest of the capital Budapest, has tried to mitigate the effects of these closures.

The next Hungarian league games are in late January, so no football matches have had to be called off because of the stadium’s closure. 

Local side Fehervar FC, which usually trains at the stadium during the winter, can use other pitches in the city.

“Fehervar FC’s professional work is not particularly affected by the drastic decision to save energy,” the club said.

Cser-Palkovics said the plan is for the stadium, only built in 2018, to reopen in mid-January, adding that he has asked the league to reschedule evening games in the New Year to save on pitch heating and floodlight costs.

“We should not wait for miracles, we can help ourselves by our own measures,” he said.

Elsewhere in the city, the Vorosmarty Theatre will close after performing its Christmas and New Year programme and will reopen in March when the spring season kicks off, said its head Janos Szikora.

“We won’t sit around desperately thinking, ‘Oh my God what will happen,'” Szikora told AFP, adding that while the theatre is closed actors will find other spaces to rehearse.

– Blaming Brussels –

The energy crisis — a ripple effect from the Ukraine war — has piled pressure on nationalist premier Orban, who has made low household utility bills a core policy over the last decade. 

Inflation in Hungary reached 21.6 percent in October, its highest level since 1996, and the third highest in the EU, according to Eurostat.  

Government-mandated price caps on basic foodstuffs and fuel aimed at stemming price rises have led to shortages in some shops and petrol stations.

With recession looming — GDP contracted by 0.4 percent in the third quarter — EU funds totalling more than 14 billion euros ($14.4 billion) have been withheld over corruption and rule-of-law concerns.

“Rising energy bills and even more so inflation are affecting everyone — the question is who Hungarians will blame for these economic hardships,” said Andrea Virag, strategy director of the Budapest-based Republikon think tank.

A government billboard campaign accuses the EU, saying “Brussels sanctions are ruining us”, while a government “national consultation” survey sent to households poses leading questions also critical of the sanctions.  

“It is clear that the tactic of the Hungarian government and Orban is to put all the blame on Brussels,” Virag told AFP. “There is some research that suggests that a huge amount of people believe Fidesz’s narrative.” 

It remains to be seen how many businesses will be forced to close for good in the months to come.

While industrial Szekesfehervar is relatively wealthy, other municipalities particularly in poorer eastern regions are threatened by bankruptcy unless they get state support, according to mayor Cser-Palkovics.

Geza Deli, a pensioner walking on Szekesfehervar’s main street, told AFP he agreed with City Hall’s strategy of reducing services deemed non-essential. 

“Obviously there are some basic public services which need support — primarily education and healthcare. It is more important that a doctor can take care of me than I can go to a football match,” the 72-year-old said.

China’s major cities of Beijing and Shanghai were blanketed with security on Tuesday in the wake of nationwide rallies calling for political freedoms and an end to Covid lockdowns.

The country’s leadership is facing a wave of protest not seen in decades, fuelled by anger over the unrelenting lockdowns as well as deep-rooted frustrations over China’s political direction.

A deadly fire last week in Urumqi, the capital of northwest China’s Xinjiang region, was the catalyst for public outrage, with protesters taking to the streets of cities around the country over the weekend.

The demonstrators said Covid restrictions were to blame for hampering rescue efforts — claims the government denied as it accused “forces with ulterior motives” of linking the fire to the strict virus measures.

– ‘So many police’ –

Several protests were planned for Monday night but did not materialise, with AFP journalists in Beijing and Shanghai noting a heavy police presence of hundreds of vehicles and officers on the streets.

People who had attended rallies over the weekend told AFP Monday they had received phone calls from law enforcement demanding information about their movements.

In Shanghai, near a site where weekend protests saw bold calls for the resignation of President Xi Jinping, bar staff told AFP they had been ordered to close at 10:00 pm (1400 GMT) for “disease control”. 

Small clusters of officers stood outside each metro exit.

Throughout the day AFP journalists saw officers detaining four people, later releasing one, with a reporter counting 12 police cars within 100 metres along Wulumuqi street in Shanghai, the focal point of Sunday’s rally.

“The atmosphere tonight is nervy. There are so many police around,” a man in his early 30s told AFP as evening fell.

And with police cars, foot patrols, a network of surveillance cameras, and aided by the icy wind, Beijing authorities also appeared Monday to have deterred fresh gatherings.

Elsewhere, some rallies did go ahead. In semi-autonomous Hong Kong, where mass democracy protests erupted in 2019, dozens gathered at the Chinese University to mourn the victims of the Urumqi fire.

“Don’t look away. Don’t forget,” protesters shouted.

And in Hangzhou, just over 170 kilometres (106 miles) southwest of Shanghai, there was strict security and sporadic protests in the city’s downtown, footage circulating on social media and partly geolocated by AFP showed.

– ‘Many died in vain’ –

China’s strict control of information and continued travel curbs has made verifying the numbers of protesters across the vast country challenging.

But such widespread rallies are exceptionally rare, with authorities harshly clamping down on all opposition to the central government.

US President Joe Biden is monitoring the unrest, the White House said Monday.

Around the world, solidarity protests have also mushroomed.

In the United States, Chinese-speaking and Uyghur communities came together in vigils.

“Officials are borrowing the pretext of Covid, but using excessively strict lockdowns to control China’s population,” one 21-year-old Chinese attendant who gave only his surname, Chen, told AFP.

“They disregarded human lives and caused many to die in vain,” he said.

– ‘No longer afraid’ –

China’s leaders have remained steadfast in their commitment to zero-Covid, which compels local authorities to impose snap lockdowns, quarantine orders, and limit freedom of movement in response to minor outbreaks.

But there are signs that some local authorities are taking steps to relax some of the rules and dampen the unrest.

In Urumqi, an official said Tuesday the city would give a one-off payment of 300 yuan ($42) to each person with “low income or no income”, and announced a five-month rent exemption for some households. 

People in the city of four million, some of whom have been confined to their homes for weeks on end, can also travel around on buses to run errands within their home districts starting Tuesday, officials said.

In Beijing, state media reported authorities had apologised for delayed deliveries to residents as online shopping demand surges due to repeated lockdowns.

The city has also banned “the practice of barring building gates in closed-off residential compounds”, Xinhua said on Sunday.

The practice has fuelled public anger as people found themselves locked in their homes during minor outbreaks. 

And an influential state media commentator suggested that Covid controls could be further relaxed — while insisting the public “will soon calm down”.

“I can give an absolute prediction: China will not become chaotic or out of control,” Hu Xijian, a columnist with the state-run tabloid Global Times said on Twitter, which is banned in China.

“China may walk out of the shadow of Covid-19 sooner than expected.”

Asian equities rose and the dollar weakened Tuesday as China avoided another night of protests after a weekend of unrest across the country fuelled uncertainty in the world’s number two economy.

The gains were led by a rally in Hong Kong and Shanghai, with property firms enjoying a much-needed surge on the back of moves to ease funding restrictions on troubled developers.

However, sentiment was tempered by warnings from top Federal Reserve policymakers that US interest rates would rise further and could go higher than initially thought to fight inflation.

The remarks were partly to blame for big losses of more than one percent in Wall Street’s three main indexes.

China was rocked by demonstrations at the weekend calling for more political freedoms and an end to the country’s long-running and economically painful zero-Covid strategy that has seen millions thrown into lockdown for months.

Several arrests were made and security forces were out in force Monday to prevent a repeat of the protests, which were the most widespread since pro-democracy demonstrations were crushed in 1989.

The return of some calm helped Hong Kong stocks rally more than three percent and Shanghai more than one percent, with some commentators suggesting the unrest could actually help push leaders to ease some of the strict containment measures. 

Property firms were among the best performers after China said it would end a ban on firms raising cash by selling stocks, marking the latest measure to ease pressure on the sector, which has seen several companies collapse and threatens the wider economy.

Sydney, Seoul, Singapore, Wellington, Taipei and Jakarta were also in positive territory, though Tokyo dipped with Manila.

Attention is turning to the United States this week with a number of Fed officials due to speak, including boss Jerome Powell, while Friday sees the release of key jobs data, which could provide an idea about the bank’s plans for monetary policy.

Bets on a slowdown in its pace of rate hikes have boosted markets for the past weeks, but some high-ranking members on Monday looked to play down the chances of a more dovish pivot.

St. Louis Fed chief James Bullard warned “markets are underpricing a little bit the risk that the (policy board) will have to be more aggressive rather than less aggressive in order to contain the very substantial inflation that we have in the US”.

And Richmond Fed president Thomas Barkin added: “I’m very supportive of a path that is slower, probably longer and potentially higher than where we were before.”

The officials indicated borrowing costs would not likely come down until the end of next year or in 2024.

– Key figures around 0230 GMT –

Tokyo – Nikkei 225: DOWN 0.6 percent at 27,999.82 (break)

Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: UP 3.6 percent at 17,920.01

Shanghai – Composite: UP 1.6 percent at 3,128.24

Euro/dollar: UP at $1.0357 from $1.0347 on Monday

Dollar/yen: DOWN at 138.85 yen from 138.87 yen

Pound/dollar: UP at $1.1992 from $1.1952

Euro/pound: DOWN at 86.40 pence from 86.50 pence

West Texas Intermediate: FLAT at $77.24 per barrel

Brent North Sea crude: UP 0.2 percent at $83.34 per barrel

New York – Dow: DOWN 1.5 percent at 33,849.46 (close)

London – FTSE 100: DOWN 0.2 percent at 7,474.02 (close)