BANJA LUKA, Bosnia-Herzegovina -- Viktor Orban received a state award from Milorad Dodik, the Western-sanctioned Bosnian Serb separatist leader, as the Hungarian prime minister continued a controversial trip to Bosnia-Herzegovina.
Orban’s meetings with Dodik, and the April 5 ceremony where he received the Order of the Republika Srpska, were being closely watched by officials in the European Union, whose presidency Orban will take over in July.
Dodik, a nationalist who awarded Russian President Vladimir Putin the same award last year, heads the Serb-dominated Republika Srpska, one of two autonomous regions that comprise the complicated structure of Bosnia-Herzegovina. He’s been sanctioned by the United States and Britain over his efforts to undermine the Dayton peace accords, which ended the Balkan country's war in the 1990s.
Orban, who is one of the few EU and NATO politicians willing to meet with Dodik, said he planned more frequent visits to Bosnia-Herzegovina after Hungary assumes the EU presidency.
"I have always supported the Serbs in international politics, because I have gained the conviction that international politics is unfair, not a fair policy,” Orban said during the ceremony in the town of Banja Luka. “In Europe, they do not recognize that Europe needs the Serbs. Without the Serbs, there is no European security.”
For his part, Dodik lavished praised on Orban.
"Serbs and Hungarians should cooperate at the highest possible level and this is never directed against a third party,” he said. “This is due to our interests and desire to do good, but also to defend our values, and Hungary is an example of how to maintain family values and a traditional society.”
A day earlier, Orban met with other top Bosnian officials, including the chairwoman of its Council of Ministers.
EU leaders last month agreed to open talks with Bosnia on joining the bloc, but said there was "hard work" ahead to move the membership bid forward.
The office for the Bosnian presidency said in a statement on April 4 that the EU decision was an incentive for the country to continue the reform process.
Hungary has promised 100 million euros in aid to Republika Srpska. A portion of the aid has been spent on buying Hungarian-built agricultural machinery in a deal agreed upon in December 2021 during a private visit Orban made, which included a visit to Dodik's estate.
Republika Srpska also borrowed a total of 140 million euros from the Export-Import Bank of Hungary on two occasions to bridge the entity's budget deficit and partly refinance debts.