Hungary Withdraws Bid To Host 2024 Summer Olympics

Hungary's government announced on Wednesday "it would withdraw Budapest's bid" to host the 2024 Summer Olympics, citing a "lack of political and national unity behind the application that it blamed on the opposition," according to Marton Dunai of REUTERS. Bidding alongside "powerhouses" L.A. and Paris, Budapest had been considered a "long-shot candidate." Budapest Mayor Istvan Tarlos had suggested the city "might quit the race" after local opponents of the bid last week "submitted a quarter of a million signatures in a petition demanding a local referendum in Budapest on the issue." Wednesday's decision was made at a meeting between Tarlos, PM Viktor Orban and the chair of the Hungarian Olympic committee. According to a survey published on Wednesday by pollster Median, "half of Hungarians wanted Budapest to withdraw its bid, with only a third supporting it nationally." In Budapest, 56% of voters were "against the bid" (REUTERS, 2/22).