Eastern Hungarian villages leaders in "crime free" living

While many residents of even the most rural parts of Hungary must take precautions to protect themselves from crime, three villages in the country's northeast are said to be totally free from the sorts of thefts and other misdeeds that leave most Hungarian sleeping behind double-locked doors and constantly keeping an eye on their belongings.

According to a report on news portal index.hu, based on a dispatch in local daily Észak-Magyarország ("North Hungary"), the villages of Gagyapáti, Kány and Tornakápolna in Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén County have gone several years without a single crime being reported.

In the three settlements - which have a population of just over 100 - bicycles do not need to be taken inside for the night, or gates locked.

The residents and authorities in the villages say they are proud of their status as crime-free zones, and credit it to the fact that the everyone in each of the settlements knows everyone else, and looks out for each other.

• Email
• Save to My Caboodle