What is the relationship between Orban and Vučić? What is their political and economic closeness based on? What are the channels through which money travels between the two countries? What has been done, and what plans have been announced? What are the connections between the Orban and Vučić families? Which Hungarian companies win tenders in Serbia? Finally, what does Utiber monitor?
More than 10 days after the terrible accident in Novi Sad, in which 14 people died, the competent prosecutor's office is mostly silent, no one has announced to the public that anyone is a suspect, let alone that an indictment has been filed and someone arrested.
However, if we managed to shift the focus just a little from these terrible facts and try to look through the prism of Serbian-Hungarian relations, we could reach both "rulers" in a few steps without major problems - Aleksandar Vučić i Viktor Orban.
On November 1, the canopy of the newly reconstructed Railway Station in Novi Sad fell on the unfortunate people, and the Hungarian company Utiber was in charge of supervising the project of reconstruction, extension and adaptation of the station building. There is every chance that the general public of Serbia had never heard of the company Utiber before the accident. This company is one of 659 Hungarian companies in Serbia - those whose majority owner is a Hungarian citizen or a legal entity from this country.
In addition to the tender for the supervision of works on the reconstruction and modernization of the railway from Novi Sad to the state border with Hungary, Utiber, together with other companies, won another 19 public procurements in Serbia from 2021. Procurement related to critical supervision was "difficult" for almost four billion dinars. Forbes Serbia calculated the other day that the total value of all 20 procurements is around 75 million euros.
From the Public Procurement Portal, it can be seen that, among other things, last year Utiber also received the job of manager of the construction of the national football stadium (a job worth about 12 million euros), as well as the job of expert supervision of the construction of the railway line Zemunsko polje - national stadium (7,7, XNUMX million euros).
As the Hungarian media wrote this summer, both Utiber and the Viköti company, which is also the winner of some tenders in Serbia, were often subcontractors of the companies of the richest Hungarian - Lőrinc Mészáros. Thanks to his dealings with the state (sound familiar?), Mesaros has acquired a huge fortune ($1,7 billion) in a short time and is one of the closest friends and associates of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. And it has already been five years since the Hungarian investigative portal Direkt36 showed how public money through Mesaros' companies ends up in the pockets of Orbán's family.
And so, in a few steps, we got from the accident in Novi Sad to the prime minister who has been in power for the longest time in the European Union: he came to power (for the second time) in 2010. Two years later, his friend and associate Aleksandar Vučić will come to power in Serbia (for the second time).
CLOSE COOPERATION
In the coming years, Serbia and Hungary, led by Vučić and Orban, will create close relations, increase trade, make big plans in the field of energy, use Chinese loans to build the railway infrastructure that will connect them, and Hungary, for its part, will start "pouring" money into Serbia. , i.e. Vojvodina: they will build a football academy in Bačka Topola, distribute grants and cheap loans to Hungarian farmers and companies, buy and build real estate, buy media, build schools and kindergartens...
At the same time, in both countries the autocratic grip on the state and society will strengthen, both autocrats and populists will subjugate the largest number of media in the country, completely eat up the institutions and render meaningless concepts such as "rule of law", "pluralistic society" or "democracy", some less important not to mention terms like "public procurement".
Orban will become the bearer of the "values" of illiberal democracy, and Vučić will follow him in this from 2017 at the latest - the Serbian autocrat will take expressions like "rule of law jihad" and "liberal Marxism" from Hungarian, and the pronatalist policy will be directly inspired measures in Hungary.
Serbian tabloids and Vučić's subjects in office will call Orban and Vučić, together with Slovakian Prime Minister Fico, "the only free leaders in Europe", as well as the leaders of the free world, while Orban, for his part, will declare at one of the joint meetings of the government that Hungary will and Serbia to "build and protect" Central Europe from new waves of migration.
It is difficult to count all the powerful agreements and memoranda signed by Hungary and Serbia - only in June 2023, during the first session of the "Strategic Council for Cooperation between Serbia and Hungary", 12 bilateral agreements were signed. On that occasion, Vučić said that the relations between Serbia and Hungary are at their historical maximum, and that the trade exchange is "almost five times higher than ten years ago".
'WE WILL HAVE AN OIL PIPELINE AND A NUCLEAR PLANT
And while the president was right regarding the first claim, he missed the second - the trade exchange between Hungary and Serbia at that moment was not five, but three times greater than 10 years earlier. In 2023, Hungary was Serbia's fourth export and sixth import partner.
In the first six months of 2024, Serbia imported the most natural gas, gas oils, medicines and electricity from Hungary, and exported conductors for ignition of motor vehicles, electricity and electronic integrated circuits.
According to the data of PKS and the National Bank of Serbia, in the period from 2010 and ending with the first quarter of 2024, inflows based on investment by Hungarian residents in the Republic of Serbia were recorded in the amount of around 1,3 billion euros, which makes Hungary the 10th place on the list of countries with the largest investments in Serbia in this period.
The two countries are making big plans for the future in the field of energy: a joint company "Serbhungas" was established for trading natural gas, in which the Hungarian company MVM CEEnergy has a majority of 51 percent, while Serbian Srbijagas has a minority ownership of 49 percent. MVM CEEnergy is part of the Hungarian energy giant MVM Group. This company had a similar attempt with Elektroprivreda Srbije, when it was planned that EPS would enter 11 hydroelectric power plants into a joint venture with MVM. The then supervisory board of EPS did not give its consent, so the plan was not implemented. The supervisory board was soon replaced and a new one was appointed, which also replaced the previous director of EPS, Vladimir Tomašević.
Serbia also rents gas storage from Hungary because the one in Banatski Dvor is not enough for it. Also, the two countries plan to build an oil pipeline. During 2021, Vučić announced that Serbia would like to participate in the expansion of the Hungarian Paks nuclear power plant and in return receive "five, ten or 15 percent" of the nuclear power plant.
On Monday, November 11, Orban stated that he wants more Serbian businessmen in Hungary: "Right now, we are very close to having a big Serbian investment project in Hungary," said the Hungarian Prime Minister.
ORBAN'S RICH BROTHER-IN-LAW
However, rather than these dry macroeconomic figures and big plans, Hungary's concrete affairs in Serbia, like the one at the beginning of the text, are much more interesting, especially when the Orbán family is involved.
Thus, in 36, BIRN Serbia and the Direkt2019.hu portal discovered that since 2016, Hungarian, Serbian and Slovenian companies have almost exclusively been awarded the jobs of lighting local self-governments in Serbia, and that the companies behind those jobs are connected to Orbán - i.e. with his son-in-law Ištvan Tiborec, who, like Mesaroš, amassed enormous wealth in a short time - but also with Ana Brnabić, the Prime Minister at the time. BIRN then reported that since 2015, around 120 million euros have been invested in the modernization of public lighting, and that the largest number of jobs was won by the same group of companies and their partners: out of a total of 120 million euros, around 108 million went to these companies.
At the beginning of 2024, news spread to the public that the mentioned son-in-law Tiborc became the owner of more than 120.000 square meters of business space in New Belgrade, that is, a total of 11 buildings. By the way, Tiborc is also on the Forbes list of the richest people in Hungary, in 27th place with slightly more than 180 million euros.
Also interesting is the participation of the mentioned giant, MVM Group, owned by Dragoljub Zbiljić's company, which was among the first financiers of SNS and has been receiving large jobs from the state and state-owned companies for years.
The company MVM Energetika, part of the MVM Group, owns a third of Zbiljić's companies Elektromontaza and Energotehnika-Južna Bačka.
Even more interesting is the recent revelation by BIRN Serbia that Tatjana Vukić, the partner of Aleksander Vucić's brother Andrej, is on the supervisory boards of both of these companies. Vukić is, among other things, the manager of the Foundation "For the Serbian People and the State", which was founded by the ruling Serbian Progressive Party, and as it is written on the website of the Foundation, the "creator of the vision, idea and initiative" for the establishment of the Foundation is the president Aleksandar Vučić.
WHERE IS THE MONEY COMING TO SERBIA FROM?
One of the main channels through which money from Hungary comes to Serbia is through the "Bethlen Gábor" Fund (BGA), which was established by the Hungarian government in 2011 "with the aim of supporting and establishing cultural, sports, educational and economic activities of local Hungarian communities abroad".
According to the research portal CINS, from 2011 to the end of 2020, 143 million euros came into Serbia alone from BGA for these purposes. Data from the Belgrade Center for Security Policy indicate that since 2016, 252 million euros in grants and subsidized loans have entered Vojvodina from Hungary.
However, there are indications that from 2021 the outflow of money from the BGA to the surrounding countries has been significantly reduced: according to the research of the Romanian research portal Átlátszó Erdély, after a record 365 million euros in 2020, during 2021 the BGA distributed "only" 91,5 million euros to the surrounding Hungarian communities.
Although there are statements on the BGA website that in the period 2021-2024. money from this foundation came to Serbia on several grounds, it is not possible to find the total amount that entered Serbia.
"Vreme" sent questions in this regard to the "Bethlen Gábor" foundation, but there was no answer.
Another foundation through which money comes to Serbia is the Prosperitati Foundation from Subotica. According to the data from the financial report, at the end of 2023 they had 17,3 million euros in cash and another 17 million euros in deferred income and donations received.
Among the users of Hungarian money in Serbia is the National Council of the Hungarian National Minority, which in 2023 had almost 5,8 million euros in income from donations - of which slightly less than a million euros came from Serbia (from the republican budget, the budget of the Autonomous Province Vojvodina and local budgets). In April 2024, the Council announced the news that this year it will dispose of more than 1,4 billion dinars (about 12 million euros).
Fifteen minutes after the elections for the National Councils of Minorities, in November 2022, the then leader of the Union of Vojvodina Hungarians (SVM) Istvan Pastor said that the "Mađarska Sloga" list - through which the SVM went to the elections - "achieved a historic success" by winning all 35 seats in the National Council of the Hungarian National Minority. This was not difficult, considering that "Mađarska Sloga" was the only participant in the elections for the council of this national minority in Serbia.
This Council is located at the same address as the "Karolj Biro" Fund, which was founded by the Union of Vojvodina Hungarians, a sister party to the Hungarian Fidesz. At the same time, the National Council of the Hungarian National Minority is the owner and publisher of the newspaper "Magyar Szó", the oldest daily newspaper in Hungarian in Serbia.
The Pannonia Foundation, another one funded by the "Bethlen Gábor" Fund, is the owner of Panon TV and Radio, as well as Subotica Hungarian Radio. For the year 2023, this foundation reported more than two million euros in donations received.
What is the goal of this pouring of Hungarian money into neighboring countries, including Serbia? Certainly, one of the goals is a better life for Hungarians in the diaspora, increasing influence in neighboring countries by building schools and kindergartens, but one of the most important goals of this practice is gathering votes for the ruling Fidesz party. In the 2022 elections, Orbán's Fidesz won as much as 94 percent of the votes from Hungarians living outside Hungary.
TWO LEADERS OF THE FREE WORLD
One of the indicators of Orban's "soft power" over Vučić was visible when, after the local elections in the north of Kosovo, there was a conflict between Serbs and KFOR, and Serbian forces captured three KFOR soldiers. Then Orban asked Vučić that the soldiers be released, and a few days later that request was fulfilled.
It was only a few months later, after the conflict in Banjska, that Orban had a "Serbian" version of the event ready - when asked to impose sanctions on Serbia due to the attack in Banjska, Orban said that Serbia "suffered provocations", that Kosovo should change its behavior, and that the call for sanctions is "ridiculous" and "impossible".
In return, Orbán wholeheartedly and everywhere supports Serbia's entry into the EU, while at the same time the same European Union punishes Hungary with amounts that are measured in hundreds of millions of euros, and at the same time freezes the funds intended for Hungary (this figure is constantly growing, now it is around 19 billion euros).
Political scientist Dr. Vujo Ilić tells "Vreme" that Vučić's and Orban's approaches are basically very similar. "The economy is politically managed, stable economic growth is achieved, but it serves as a means of preserving the privileges of the political elite, maintaining wide clientelistic networks and corruption, which cannot be considered an exception, but part of the system," says Ilić.
He adds that neither Orban nor Vučić make a big difference between what is good for them personally and what is good for the state.
"It is difficult to cite an example where they risked their position or the interests of political and economic elites for the sake of the common good. This cooperation certainly exists because it is in their direct interest, but its effects are broader and more complex. It is the same with Vojvodina - I think that the distance between people has decreased, which is important for the life of Hungarians in Serbia, who are probably the biggest beneficiaries of this rapprochement. However, patterns of clientelism that limit democratic processes at the local level have also expanded with these influences," Ilić explains.
Russia's role is unavoidable when it comes to Hungary and Serbia. Orban openly supports Putin, as did Vučić until Russia's attack on Ukraine. Since then, the Serbian leader mostly leaves it to his party comrades and tabloids to spread Russian propaganda, while he helps Ukraine behind the back of the public, but still opposes sanctions against Russia.
Similarly, although Hungary has been a member of the EU since 2004, Orbán has been at direct "war" with the EU and the largest number of its members for years. Vučić, on the other hand, formally emphasizes Serbia's determination to become part of the EU, while, again, he leaves it to his "officials" and faithful tabloids to spread propaganda about Serbia's entry into the BRICS and the spread of a negative narrative towards the EU.
Sociologist Dario Hajrić also sees similarities between the two populists.
"Both Orban and Vučić base their style of government on the centralization of power, limiting the independence of institutions, populism, media control and nationalist rhetoric. In both cases, the result is a gradual decline into autocracy. Similarities can also be seen in the reduced freedom of speech and control of the media space, targeting of political opponents and labeling of the unfit, in which the regime in Serbia, unfortunately, leads compared to Hungary. Without intending to use it as a label, many of those elements are shared with fascism. This, of course, does not mean that the SNS or Fides are fascist parties - the main characteristic of the SNS is actually clientelism, and the others serve to make it easier for citizens to explain to themselves why they participate in the pyramid scheme of corruption," says Hajrić.
Along with all the similarities, he also notes the differences between Vučić and Orban.
"Despite ties with Russia and China, Orbán sees Hungary as part of Europe, positioning Hungary as a conservative opponent of European liberalism, and himself as a sovereignist leader. On the domestic political front, it is even more openly right-wing, relying on xenophobia, racism and homophobia. On the other hand, Serbia is not part of the EU and depends much more on direct foreign investments, because it does not have such access to its funds. Therefore, in foreign policy, Vučić tries to portray himself as a pragmatic politician who balances between East and West, modern and traditional, often framing his own citizens in the West as a 'bad policeman' whom he struggles to keep on the European path", concludes Hajrić.
This text was supported by the Czech organization AMO and the Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Arrests out of the blue, banishment from the country, beatings... All this happened to us in the last week alone. The Serbian Progressive Party, born from the foam left behind by their spiritual father Vojislav Šešelj, is returning to its roots. I can't escape from myself
"The levers of power are not in their hands," said Bishop Grigorije. "But there is something in the Holy Scriptures that I like very much, and that is that the power of God is revealed in weakness. So, all worldly power is on one side. And on the other side, in the hands of these young men and women is the weakness of this world. But in their weakness, the power of God or God's justice appears. That is why they are at such a great advantage."
The regime and its media have been trumpeting the "civil war" for months, and the government is the only one that has a patent for peace and stability - of course, with the help of the propaganda machine and the use of force. "It is a propaganda tactic of SNS that says: 'violence is everywhere, terrorists surround us, but we are here to save you,'" explains communication professor Jelena Kleut for "Vreme".
Students and citizens who accompany them on these walking feats, were welcomed as the most native together with those who came the day before from other places. A dove of peace was also released on the stage next to the promenade along the river - this symbolic gesture of the two students is the most impressive gesture of understanding and respect between the Bosniak and Serbian peoples since the end of the wars in the former Yugoslavia
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The government of Đur Mazut is "counter-revolutionary", focused on retaliation and state and street violence against opponents of the regime
Depriving Dejan Ilić, an intellectual with an impeccable life and work biography, of his freedom, without the slightest meaningful reason, is just one of the brutal indicators that the regime has turned against its own citizens and is entering a phase of terror
Vučić and Šešelj: Where I stopped, you continue
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