The curfew restrictions imposed by the Hungarian government two weeks ago are set to expire this Saturday. Announcing the decision in a video message, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said the restrictions introduced so far have been successful, because they slowed down the spread of the virus.

„I know that this is a difficult situation, one that causes inconvenience to all of us, but the deadline will expire soon, on Saturday. We must decide how to proceed; shall we continue, and if so, then how? Besides, families are all getting ready for Easter, which requires due foresight. We ve listened to the mayors, asked for police s opinion, talked to epidemics experts and gathered scholars opinions as well. Their views, that the restrictions imposed so far have made sense, appear consistent. They were reasonable and proved successful in a sense that they ve slowed down the spread of of the epidemic and, in light of that, we have made the following decisions:

– We are extending the duration of the current curfew restriction indefinitely, any we will consider and decide on any potential new extensions weekly.

– We also decided to provide mayors with a special option, or additional remit. They will be entitled to draw up and introduce special regulations for their localities, which would remain in effect until midnight on Monday, that is, until the end of Easter.

Besides these decisions, I also have some requests to all of you. First, I would like to ask you to adhere to the restrictions. Avoid gatherings, observe the required social distancing rules in public areas and pay special attention to elderly people. In short, I request you to accept that this Easter will be different from the ones that we are used to. And finally, I ask all of you to take care of each other during the Easter holiday”, Prime Minister Orban concluded his message.