The left wing Mayor of the Budapest Sixth district Tamas Soproni, has banned the traditional display of the Advent cross on the Nyugati square, the V4 news agency has reported.

The double-cross appearing in Hungary’s Coat of Arms, as well as the Advent wreath at the bottom, have been on display in the city for years, with the candles lit each week during an ecumenical service. However, the recently elected mayor of the left-liberal Momentum opposition has refused to issue a land use permit, effectively “banning the installation of the cross.

Our Homeland, a right-wing opposition party, described the mayor’s reasoning as cynical. They even shared a video showing that traffic is scarce and there aren’t many crowds on Nyugati square. Our Homeland has decided to defy the ban and install the cross anyway, which was then consecrated by a Catholic priest and blessed by a reformed pastor during an ecumenical service.

Our Homeland vice-president Ms Dora Duro published a Facebook post regarding the incident. She said: “we have watched in shock how Western Europe has turned its back on Christianity and become atheist-liberal… yielding more and more ground to a new ‘aberrant’ lifestyle, until it eventually denied its own Christian origins because of its excessive tolerance and “sensitivity” toward migrants. Momentum has brought all of this here with the party’s new mayor banning the cross…”

The leftist opposition recently won the city hall in Budapest, and is hoping to use this position for political leverage.