Weather service officials ask withdrawal of chief dismissals

On Monday, Minister of Technology and Industry Laszlo Palkovics dismissed with immediate effect weather service leader Kornelia Radics and her deputy Gyula Horvath.

Following an inaccurate rain forecast by the weather service which resulted in the postponement of a fireworks display on the August 20th national holiday, the weather service said on Facebook on Sunday that of various scenarios prepared for the day, the least likely happened. “This factor of uncertainty is unfortunately part of our profession,” it added.

On Tuesday, the weather service said on Facebook that according to media reports, the dismissals had been connected to the events on August 20. They added that this represented an “unacceptable and baseless” transfer of collective responsibility by the operative body which decided to postpone the fireworks and it exerted political pressure on the weather service.