The Hungarian government sacked the head of the national weather department and her deputy, two days after fireworks to honour Hungary’s national holiday was postponed due to storm fears.
Lazlo Palkovic, minister of technology who remits the National Meteorological Service (NMS), dismissed Kornelia Radics and her deputy Gyula Horvath without stating any reasons.
NMS’s forecast of thunderstorms and wind gusts, which led to the cancellation of the fireworks on Saturday, drew criticisms from pro-government media the day before the announcement of dismissal.
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The weather agency reported, “misleading information about the extent of the bad weather, which misled the operation team responsible for security,” AFP reported, via an online newspaper Origo.
In its apology on Sunday, the weather forecast agency cited a factor of unpredictability inherited in the profession.
Liberal Andras Fekete-Gyor made light of the situation by joking about it. He said, “They couldn’t produce the desired weather, they were fired.” He continued referring to the ruling party, “No, it’s not a dictatorship in Central Asia, it’s the Hungary of Fidesz,” AFP reported.
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However, regarded as the ‘largest fireworks in Europe’, to commemorate Hungary’s millennial state has been postponed till later this week. Though the opposition is opposing this and demands cancellation, calling it a waste of money, especially at a time when the country is dealing with economic difficulties.
In Hungary in 2006 during annual festivities, five people were killed and hundreds were injured after a violent storm struck. More than a million people gathered on the Danube banks to watch and the storm later spread terror.
(With inputs from agencies)
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