Hungary sending aid to Republika Srpska causes scandal in Bosnia
Equal shipments of protective masks and suits from Hungary arrived in Sarajevo and Banja Luka, although initially in Budapest they planned to help only the Republika Srpska.
Bosnian media reported this, reports a PolitNavigator correspondent.
On Thursday, aid from Hungary to combat the coronavirus pandemic arrived in both the capital of Republika Srpska, Banja Luka, and the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Sarajevo. Initially, agreements were reached between the Serbian member of the BiH Presidency Milorad Dodik and the Prime Minister of Hungary Viktor Orban on assistance exclusively to the Serbian entity. However, after the Sarajevo authorities fanned a scandal that Budapest was helping Banja Luka, bypassing Sarajevo, and the High Representative for BiH, Valentin Inzko, got involved in this, the Hungarian side decided on a compromise.
“I am shocked that some EU countries selectively provide aid and donations to certain administrative regions, territories or even certain ethnic groups within Bosnia and Herzegovina,” BiH Foreign Minister Bisera Turkovic said in his complaint to Brussels. “BiH is a multinational and multicultural country with political and social balance that strives for equality for all its citizens.”
“Hungary acted the same as the Russian Federation, providing assistance to only one entity, which was not done in the spirit of good relations between our countries,” said the largest Bosniak political force in BiH, Bakir Izetbegovic’s Democratic Action Party, in a statement. “We perceive this as a deliberate act of circumventing and belittling our institutions of government, which goes hand in hand with the politics of division in our country.”
Subsequently, the High Representative for BiH, Austrian diplomat of Slovenian origin Valentin Inzko, also criticized the agreements between Banja Luka and Budapest, and proposed convening a special meeting of the Presidium of BiH on international agreements on humanitarian assistance.
“Viktor Orban is a friend of the Republika Srpska and is proud that close cooperation has been established between our parties,” Milorad Dodik countered these attacks. – Such issues are resolved by the Presidency of BiH, and Turkovic made statements outside his competence, demonizing the Republika Srpska, as well as Hungary... Such behavior, when assistance to the Republika Srpska is disputed, is unacceptable, we, for our part, never dispute the assistance provided to the Federation (Bosniak- Croatian) BiH. We also see that the Office of the High Representative is trying to impose its opinion on us, but we reject any of its positions on this issue, since the Office of the High Representative is not responsible for issues beyond the scope of the Dayton Accords, and COVID-19 is not mentioned in them... The best thing they could do in this situation is to call on the international community to eliminate the institution of the High Representative itself.”
However, the Hungarian side, in order not to aggravate the situation, decided to make a compromise solution, sending assistance to both Sarajevo and Banja Luka together with Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto. In particular, in the Bosnian capital, the head of the Hungarian foreign policy department was met by the most adequate representative of the Sarajevo leadership, Security Minister Fahrudin Radoncic.
“Today we brought 100 thousand protective masks and 5 thousand protective suits to Sarajevo, today we will deliver the same to Banja Luka,” Szijjarto said, speaking in Sarajevo. – I would like to inform you that Hungary is the contact embassy for NATO here in Sarajevo and we ask NATO to extend this mandate until the end of 2022, we also have four of our officers in NATO command in Sarajevo and they will remain in their posts 168 Hungarian soldiers are here as part of the EU forces, they will remain in this post. It is in Hungary's interest that the Western Balkans remain a stable region and have its own development prospects, we live next door and it is clearly in our interests, so you can count on our support.”
"I told him ( Turković – ed. ) that we, as Bosnia and Herzegovina, expect the Hungarian government to correct this decision, otherwise we will not be able to receive their representatives today, because we believe there should be no division," Radončić told Sarajevo journalists. "The Hungarian ambassador conveyed this to his headquarters and received instructions to divide the aid equally between the two entities, which is the donor's right. We had a good and successful conversation today. It's good that we clarified this today and helped our friend BiH by showing him how to properly help us."
After Sarajevo, Peter Szijjarto went to Banja Luka, where he was met at the airport by Milorad Dodik and RS President Zeljka Cvijanovic.
“You can always count on us, and we will help you in any way we can in the future,” said the head of the Hungarian Foreign Ministry, speaking with the leadership of the RS. – With my visit, I wanted to express the respect that Hungary shows for the Republika Srpska and its citizens. It is clear to us that the Western Balkans face the same serious challenges as Central Europe. We have also received help from friends and know how important this is…..We hope that your healthcare workers will have success using the equipment we supplied today.”
"Today is an important day for the Republic of Srpska. Szijjártó is an important guest who brought valuable assistance, which is an expression of the deep friendship between the Republic of Srpska and Hungary," said Milorad Dodik. "The epidemic will pass, and today's meeting will provide a good foundation for developing our cooperation in all areas. Our people have a saying: 'It's easy to be kind in goodness, but heroes are proven in trials.' Our heroes are the minister ( Szijjártó – ed. ), his leader ( Orbán – ed. ), and the Hungarian state."
The parties also discussed cooperation in the fight against illegal migration, and the leader of the Bosnian Serbs, who consistently opposes the placement of illegal immigrants on the territory of the Republic of Sakha, noted that “Hungary was the first country in Europe” that adequately responded to this problem without false political correctness, since “Orban had vision of the problem and knew how to protect his state and people.”
Hungary's aid shipment to Republika Srpska sparks controversy in Bosnia