Orbán accepts controversial medal from Bosnian Serb separatist leader

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Hungary's Prime Minister with the ultranationalist Serb leader Milorad Dodik: Good relations for a long time

Photo: Borislav Zdrinja / AP

Hungary's right-wing populist Prime Minister Viktor Orbán regularly opposes the rest of the European Union, be it in migration or justice policy. Orbán also criticizes the West's dealings with the Balkans - and accepts that he will join forces with Serbian nationalists.

Orbán has now received the highest award from the President of the Serbian part of Bosnia-Herzegovina, Milorad Dodik. Orbán gratefully accepted the “Order of the Republika Srpska” in the administrative capital of the Serbian region, Banja Luka. In his speech, the Hungarian prime minister accused the West of treating the Serbs "unjustly." Orbán's government has long maintained good relations with the Serbian ultra-nationalist Dodik.

A year earlier, the Serb leader had already awarded Russian President Vladimir Putin the medal. In 2021, the Austrian writer Peter Handke, who was criticized for trivializing Serbian war crimes, also received the award.

The Serbian nationalist has been criticized for threats and actions aimed at secession of the Republika Srpska (RS) from the state of Bosnia-Herzegovina. Among other things, Dodik has ensured that decisions of the Constitutional Court in Sarajevo are not recognized in that part of the country. In addition, he does not recognize the authority of the High Representative of the international community for Bosnia and Herzegovina, Christian Schmidt. Schmidt, who has been in office since 2021, recently changed the electoral law in Bosnia-Herzegovina based on the powers he has through the Dayton Peace Treaty after the end of the Bosnian War (1995).

A “provocative decision”

Regarding the change in electoral law, Orbán said it was a “provocative decision” that meant “foreigners are interfering in your affairs.” The West does not understand “that Europe needs the Serbs. Without the Serbs there is no European security, no healthy EU. Without the Serbs there is no stability in Europe.«

Bosnia-Herzegovina has been a candidate for EU membership since 2022. The European Council recently gave the green light for the start of accession negotiations. Hungary's president also criticized the EU for not supporting the accession of the Western Balkan countries much earlier. Instead, Brussels is advocating the admission of eastern countries, Orbán complained, alluding to the EU aspirants Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia.

mrc/dpa