It was promised a year and nine months ago, and to this day it has not been paid to the entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), Republika Srpska (RS). Instead of 100 million euros, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban is coming to Banja Luka for the second time, as part of his tour of the Western Balkans.
Before BiH, he visited Albania, Montenegro and Serbia.
Farmers are still waiting
Brane Mastalo, a vegetable gardener from the vicinity of Gradiska, in the north of BiH, is one of those farmers who hoped for concrete benefits from the promises made in November 2021 by a guest from Hungary.
He mentioned that he has already signed contracts for the purchase of machines worth around 32,000 euros, and that he was told that he can expect delivery of the machinery in September of the current year.
He also paid a down payment of about 8,000 euros, and value added tax of about 4,000 euros.
He noted that he believes that the machinery will be delivered to him.
What kind of help is it?
Orban’s promised aid to RS is the first of its kind, because Hungary, through the Bethlen Gabor Fund, the largest Hungarian state fund, has so far implemented similar programs exclusively to help the Hungarian minority in other countries.
The findings of the research program “Scheme” (a joint research project of the Ukrainian service RSE and Ukrainian Public Television) show that since 2011, the Hungarian government has paid at least 670 million euros to organizations of ethnic Hungarians in Ukraine, Slovakia, Romania, Croatia, Serbia and Slovenia.
In the case of BiH, it is not a matter of supporting the Hungarians, because, according to the 2013 population census, slightly less than 350 members of the Hungarian nationality live in that country. Of these, 166 are in the RS.
What happened and what can be expected?
So far, even the first approved money has not been realized.
What is known is that in July of last year, eight months after Orban’s visit to the RS, the first amount of 35 million euros was approved to support farmers in the RS.
However, for almost a full year, from July 2022 to June 2023, there is no indication that Hungary will approve the other 65 million euros of announced aid, Slobodna Evropa reports.
Featured photo by Szilárd Koszticsák/MTI
