Chief Rabbi Róbert Frölich and György Szabó, President of MAZSÖK, are calling for a referendum on whether Inner Erzsébetváros – the Jewish and party quarter – should break away from Budapest’s 7th District and join another borough.
Under the proposal, the neighbourhood could become part of Budapest’s 5th, 6th or 8th District, where the initiators hope greater attention would be given to public safety, cleanliness and overall quality of life. They argue that the current district leadership has failed to address issues such as littering, noise and overcrowding, and believe that separation could provide a solution, Blikk reported.
Chief Rabbi Róbert Frölich and György Szabó, President of the Hungarian Jewish Heritage Foundation (MAZSÖK), recently announced their desire for residents to decide the future of Inner Erzsébetváros. According to their proposal, a referendum should be held to determine the area’s potential separation.
The initiators claim that in recent years both local and city authorities have neglected the community. No improvements have been made to public security, hospitality venues remain poorly regulated, and cleanliness issues continue unresolved. Residents, they argue, have been left to deal with the noise, litter and overcrowding on their own.
The proposal prompted an immediate response from Erzsébetváros Mayor Péter Niedermüller, who called the idea that separation could solve these problems “fundamentally flawed”.
“Constructive cooperation, not postcode changes, will resolve Inner Erzsébetváros’s issues. Breaking up district unity in 2025 is an anachronism,” he stated in a press release.
The mayor rejected accusations that residents have been abandoned, saying that since 2019 the administration has continuously worked to make the area greener and more liveable – an approach reaffirmed by voters last year.
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The Mayor of the 6th District, Terézváros, also responded to suggestions that Inner Erzsébetváros could join his borough. Tamás Soproni offered a humorous remark:
“I am honoured by the idea that Inner Erzsébetváros might join Terézváros. I must stress that we have no territorial claims over any other district and respect the 1873 border changes – though naturally we welcome any move towards historical justice, even if, after more than 150 years, it simply brings us a little closer to restoring Greater Terézváros’s historic boundaries.”
Responding to criticism over alleged “transport experiments”, Mayor Niedermüller insisted that no such experiments were under way, but rather that plans were in place to create more pedestrian-friendly streets. The referendum’s proponents also claimed that littering has become a daily problem in Inner Erzsébetváros.
“It is true that we cannot yet station a public safety officer next to every discarded cigarette butt. However, it is irresponsible to incite panic about safety, especially when we spend more on public cleaning than any other borough in the capital,” the mayor said.
He also dismissed criticisms regarding public safety. According to the mayor, law enforcement is primarily the responsibility of the police, but the council has supported their efforts with hundreds of millions of forints in recent years, underlining the importance of residents’ sense of security.
The mayor also addressed the religious aspect of the proposal. “No one can claim that Erzsébetváros, which I have led for five years, neglects its Jewish heritage,” he wrote. He added that district leadership maintains ongoing dialogue with Jewish organisations and has consistently sought to support communal values in every possible way.
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