BUCHAREST -- Since 2016, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban's government has doled out millions of euros to sports clubs in Szekely Land, a mostly ethnic Hungarian region of Romania, financing the construction of soccer stadiums, sports academies, hockey rinks, and other infrastructure, all as Bucharest looks on.
The so-called Szekely Land is situated in Romania's central region of Transylvania with an estimated 1 million people living in the districts of Harghita and Covasna as well as part of the county of Mures. Although just over 50 percent of the population identifies as ethnic Hungarian, the region has long simmered with calls for greater autonomy from Bucharest if not outright independence.
Orban's government is often accused of fanning such sentiments. And while Budapest says its intentions are benign and many in Bucharest don't object, at least publicly, Hungary's financing of sports in Transylvania is viewed with suspicion by others. Analysts suspect Orban is using sport as part of a soft-power play to win hearts and minds, not only in Romania, but elsewhere in neighboring countries where there is a sizeable ethnic Hungarian community.
In Romania's Transylvania region, the unofficial flag of Szekely Land often flutters in the air and the unofficial anthem is sung at matches, with Orban himself joining the crowd on occasion to cheer on some of the ethnic-Hungarian teams there.
Most recently and most visibly, Orban, a self-described sports enthusiast and former amateur soccer player, was in the stands in July when Sepsi OSK from Covasna, Romania, took on Slovenia's Olimpija Ljubljana in a UEFA Europa Conference League qualifier.
The soccer game on July 21 came just days before Orban delivered his now infamous speech in the same Transylvanian region of Romania to a largely ethnic Hungarian crowd on the mixing of races and Hungarian national identity, triggering a wave of global rebukes from Washington, Brussels, and others, including Jewish groups.
That sport is a means to strengthen Hungarian identity was spelled out earlier this year by Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto. "Sport is one of the main means of preserving and building national identity and pride," he said at a press conference in January in Bucharest along with Romanian Sports Minister Eduard Novak, who raised no objections or expressed reservations, at least publicly, to the remarks.
Winning Minds Through Sports
But perhaps Bucharest should be concerned. Since 2016, Budapest has invested over 83 million euros ($85 million) in sports in ethnic Hungarian communities in Szekely Land, according to research by the Hungarian news website Index.hu, much of it flowing into soccer and ice hockey, apparently two of Orban's favorites. Bucharest has invested only a fraction of the amount Budapest has put in.
Orban has made it clear that Hungarian identity and national pride extend beyond the boundaries of Hungary, and that includes areas of Romania's Transylvanian region, or the Transcarpathian basin.
In his July 23 speech in Baile Tusnad, which is located in Transylvania's Harghita district, Orban said: "We [Hungarians] are not a mixed race…and we do not want to become a mixed race," adding that countries where European and non-Europeans mingle were "no longer nations."
"In the difficult period ahead, to maintain our national ambitions, we must remain united. The homeland must remain united, and Transylvania and the other areas inhabited by Hungarians in the Carpathian basin must remain united," Orban concluded.
SEE ALSO: U.S. Denounces Hungarian PM Orban's Comments On RaceOrban is proceeding according to plan, said Stefano Bottoni, an Italian historian of Hungary, who argues that the Hungarian right-wing populist is not interested in changing borders, but minds. "This can be called revisionism. Orban built a cross-border political and cultural system through money, vision, ideology, summer schools, as well as social and cultural networks," Bottoni told RFE/RL's Romanian Service.
"When Orban talks about the Carpathian basin, it naturally includes all the territories of the former Austro-Hungarian Empire. It does not involve a territorial review. I think this is different from interwar revisionism. The revisionism of the 1920s-1930s aimed at the recovery of territories. Here, territory is no longer the most important thing. People are more important," he added.
Orban's Partner In Romania
In 2016, the parliament in Hungary passed legislation allowing the government to finance sports among the Hungarian diaspora, a controversial law that has been criticized by countries with sizeable ethnic Hungarian communities.
Orban's remarks and maneuvers in Romania have shone a spotlight on the ethnic Hungarian political party, the Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania (UDMR), a junior partner in Romania's governing coalition.
After Orban's racially charged remarks in Baile Tusnad, the party was urged to speak out by Romanian President Klaus Iohannis.
SEE ALSO: Romania's Iohannis Blasts Orban's Remarks On Race, Demands Statement From Ethnic Hungarian PartyUDMR leader Hunor Kelemen, who is also a deputy prime minister, and several other ethnic Hungarian ministers accompanied Orban during his stay in Romania and were seen applauding his statements.
"UDMR needs to offer public clarifications since a significant part of its leadership and ministers were present at that event," Iohannis said.
In Orban's bet on sport in Romania, the UDMR is suspected of playing a leading role, often accused of fomenting "sports autonomy" in so-called Szekely Land.
Some of the sports funding from Budapest is funneled through the Mens Sana Foundation, which is led by Tanczos Barna, the Romanian environment minister and head of the UDMR party, RFE/RL's Romanian Service found. The Mens Sana Foundation was established in 1995 by Catholic Church parishes in largely ethnic Hungarian communities in Transylvania.
Orban Rooting For Romanian Teams
Racially charged remarks aside, Orban's frequent forays into Transylvania to root for local ethnic Hungarian teams has raised eyebrows in Romania.
"It seems strange to me. It all looks very strange. The prime minister of Hungary comes to Romania and roots for a team from Romania. I'm apolitical, I don't want to get into these discussions, but I don't think a similar thing could happen in Hungary," said Florin Raducioiu, a former Romanian soccer star in comments to a Romanian sports network.
Between July 21 and July 27, Orban made three public visits to Szekely Land, although he was not formally invited by the Romanian authorities. During the first two trips, Orban boasted about his government's investments in soccer in the region. He also attended a soccer match. His third visit on July 23 was marked by his fiery, xenophobic speech.
Viktor Orban takes photos with fans in Miercurea Ciuc before a soccer match between the Hungarian Under-18 national team and a select Szekely Land Under-18 side.
All the attention and money dished out by Orban to the region has many living there questioning who is ultimately in charge, Bogdan Desan, a teacher in the region, told RFE/RL.
Desan, whose family is mostly ethnic Hungarian, fears sporting events could become a lightning rod for extremists, attracted by the bigger crowds to amplify their message.
"The Szekely Land is no longer an abstract idea, a theory of some extremist groups. This is the biggest victory of Orban's policies. The flag of the Szekely Land, the anthem, are no longer only the domain of extremist movements," Desan said. "It was like that until around 2013, 2014, maybe even 2016, 2017. Through sports matches in which clubs funded from Budapest take part, anyone in the region can come into contact with the symbols of the Szekely Land," Desan added.
Orban's Obsession Sports
According to local lore, Orban spent part of his childhood in the village of Felcsut, some 40 kilometers west of Budapest, where he apparently sharpened his soccer skills, even playing later in life for the town's fourth-division amateur side during his first stint as prime minister in the late 1990s.
In those childhood days in Felcsut, Orban also befriended Lorinc Meszaros, who would one day become the village's mayor and also one of Hungary's richest men, thanks, many suspect, to his ties to Orban.
Viktor Orban has been a lifelong fan of soccer.
Meszaros would also become the chairman of Puskas Akademia FC, a soccer club and academy founded in 2007 that has benefited from plenty of state financing including money to build a stadium, whose capacity of 3,800 is more than twice the size of the town.
Funding Soccer In Romania
What was done with Puskas Akademia FC was a model attempted abroad -- in Romania. FK Csikszereda is a soccer team based in Miercurea Ciuc, also in Szekely Land and where, according to 2011 census data, more than 80 percent of the nearly 38,000 inhabitants identified as ethnic Hungarians. The team fell on hard times in the dying days of communism and went dormant before being resurrected in 2012. The team currently plays in Romania's second division and narrowly missed out on promotion to the top-flight league last season. A year after being revived, the team sealed a partnership with Puskas Akademia FC and formed its own youth academy.
With an annual budget of 2 million euros, the academy has training centers not only in Miercurea Ciuc, but three other towns with a majority ethnic Hungarian community -- Targu Mures, Odorheiu Secuiesc, and Targu Secuiesc. Money is provided by Budapest, although how much is unclear. The academy is already one of the best in Romania, competing for top honors with the soccer school established in Constanta by Gheorghe Hagi, a Romanian soccer legend who was once dubbed the "Maradona of the Carpathians."
Sepsi OSK is financially supported by both the Hungarian government and Hungarian companies.
It's not the only soccer club in Romania being pumped with money from Budapest. Sepsi OSK is reported to be the biggest benefactor of Orban's sports largesse. The team is based in Sfantu Gheorghe, where about 74 percent of the city's 56,000 citizens identified as ethnic Hungarians, according to census data from 2011. Founded in 2011, Sepsi OSK quickly found its feet on the field, winning promotion to Romania's top division in 2017. This past season, the club won the country's domestic cup, securing a spot in European competition.
The football club operates through a foundation, the OSK Sports Club Association of Sfantu Gheorghe. A controlling 51 percent stake in the club is held by Hodut Rom SRL, a subsidiary of the Hungarian-based holding company, Hodmezovasarhelyi Utepito.
The registered owner of that company is Karoly Varga, a relative and former associate of Meszaros, Orban's childhood chum, according to Hungarian media reports. Money from Budapest mainly finances the club's youth program and not players' salaries, as some suspect, according to Laszlo Dioszegi, the team president.
"We have no secrets. Two-thirds of the budget is secured from Hungarian sources, from the Hungarian government. That is the part of the budget for the youth program, children and youth players. As is well known, European rules prohibit the government financing of professional teams," explained Dioszegi to RFE/RL.
Money to pay the players is said to come solely from sponsorship deals, all inked exclusively with Hungarian companies, many of them heavyweights, including Hungarian energy company MOL. According to the Hungarian-language website, Maszol.ro, these sponsorship deals total some 4.5 million euros for Sepsi, reportedly the highest such amount for a sponsorship deal in Romanian soccer.
Orban was on hand for Sepsi's game against Slovenia's Olimpija Ljubljana on July 21, the first leg of their UEFA Conference League qualifier. Sporting a Sepsi team scarf, Orban cheered on the team in the 8,500-seat stadium, which opened last year and cost an estimated 25 million euros, part of whose funding came from Budapest.
Orban apparently relished the moment, taking selfies with fans and signing autographs, later posting some of what he documented on Instagram with comments, including "Long live the Hungarians!" and "Selfie Factory in Szekely Land."
"Viktor Orban congratulated us. We have never denied that the Hungarian government built our stadium. The entire government came to the game. They congratulated us and told us we have a good team," said Dioszegi after the game, which ended 3-1 for Sepsi, advancing them to the next qualification round of UEFA's Conference League, the newest and least prestigious of UEFA's European-wide club competitions.
It wasn't the only soccer game that Orban attended that week in Romania. The prime minister also appeared on July 23 at a match involving the so-called national team of Szekely Land.
Supporters of the Csikszereda team bring the Hungarian flag (right) and the flag of the so-called Szekely Land (left) to matches.
The Romanian Soccer Federation had refused to sanction the match between the Hungarian Under-18 national team and a select Szekely Land Under-18 side. The game was to be the first at the new stadium of FK Csikszereda, a modest, 1,400-seat venue that cost some 3 million euros with funding again provided by the Hungarian government.
Besides funding the two stadiums, the Orban government has provided cash for infrastructure and sports equipment for youth teams at both clubs.
Orban has also flashed the cash at other soccer teams elsewhere in Europe where there is a significant ethnic Hungarian community, including Dunajska Streda (Slovakia), NK Osijek (Croatia), and Backa Topola (Serbia).
Getting Out On The Ice
With only a few ice rinks around the country, ice hockey is not exactly a national passion in Romania. The national team sits 24th in the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) rankings.
However, among ethnic Hungarians, the sport has reportedly become more popular, especially for those living in the Harghita and Covasna counties, the heartland of the ethnic Hungarian community in Romania, where the cold winters suit the sport.
Lacking support from the Romanian sporting authorities, ice hockey in the region fell on hard times some 20 years ago, with local top team, HC Csikszereda from Miercurea Ciuc, finally ending operations.
But the sport was revived when Hungarian government financing appeared around 2016 after Budapest passed legislation on foreign sports funding.
Now indoor ice rinks can be found in Miercurea Ciuc, Gheorgheni, Carţa, Targu Secuiesc, and Sfantu Gheorghe, all towns with sizeable ethnic Hungarian communities in the Transylvanian region.
The rinks in Carta, Targu Secuiesc, and Sfantu Gheorghe were built or renovated with money from Romania's state-funded National Investment Company (CNI) to the tune of nearly 10 million euros. Another rink in Sancraiu de Mures, near Targu Mures, was built at a cost of 1 million euros, money provided by the Hungarian government.
The head of the Romanian Hockey Federation, Alexandru Halauca, believes the raft of rinks in mainly ethnic Hungarian areas is no accident, likely the outcome of pressure by the UDMR as well as direct financing from Budapest.
"So in cities such as Bucharest, Suceava, Iași, Constanța, Buzau, not a single ice rink was built, but ice rinks were built in Sfantu Gheorghe, Gheorgheni, Targu Mures, and Miercurea Ciuc -- and another four are to be built in the same localities with National Investment Company funds," Halauca told RFE/RL's Romanian Service in e-mailed comments, complaining that the sport's development is "imbalanced" in Romania due to this "conflict" in funding.
The Szekely Ice Hockey Academy began operations with funding from the Hungarian government in 2016, when legislation allowing such a move was okayed by the Hungarian parliament. The academy has youth training centers at eight locations across the region.
An indoor hockey rink, built in a year and at a cost of 1 million euros -- again with funding provided by Budapest -- opened to much fanfare in Transylvania's Sangeorgiu de Mures in February 2021. Elsewhere in Romania, there are a total of three indoor ice rinks: in Brasov, Galati, and Baneasa, a suburb of the capital, Bucharest.
The national ice hockey team of Romania is made up mostly of players of Hungarian ethnicity.
An ice hockey game earlier this year between Romania and Hungary ended in scandal when players on the Romanian national team -- many of whom are ethnic Hungarians -- joined in with Hungarian supporters in the crowd to sing the unofficial anthem of Szekely Land. The game in May in Slovenia at the Ice Hockey World Championship ended 4-2 in favor of Hungary.
After the game, the secretary-general of the Romanian Hockey Federation, Alexandru Nistor, accused the same players of "betraying Romania" and losing to Hungary on purpose, according to Digisport.ro.
"They turned against the country they were representing," Nistor said. "They were born and raised by a country, Romania, and they betrayed it," he added. Nistor also suggested that the players were instructed to lose the game by Barna, the Romanian environment minister and head of the UDMR, an accusation they rejected.
"Well, we really wanted to beat Hungary. Three minutes before the end it was 3-2 for them, they didn't beat us ten, zero. During the Szekely anthem, I just stood on the ice, out of respect. If the Romanian players of Hungarian ethnicity would stop playing for the national team, Romania would drop to the lowest group, it would disappear from hockey," explained Zoltan Toke, a goalkeeper for the Romanian national team.
Despite the controversy and complaints from Bucharest, there are few signs that Budapest is ready to reconsider its sports financing of ethnic Hungarian communities there. Hungarian government officials reportedly have already purchased a plot of land in Satu Mare, in northwestern Romania, where a new modern football academy will be built, according to the Romanian sports portal, Prosport.ro.
The investment in the municipality of Satu Mare would be outside the Szekely Land, but it would be in a city with 35,000 ethnic Hungarians, according to the 2011 census.
The costs for the construction and commissioning of the football academy are estimated at around 800,000 euros, the money that will be allocated by the Hungarian government.
"The Hungarian government is a reliable partner for the development of sports in Romania," Szijjarto said in January. "The Hungarian government has already financed a number of sports infrastructure developments, and this will continue in the future."