Croatian media: Orbán supported Vučić and again humiliated his Croatian fans

Croatian media: Orbán supported Vučić and again humiliated his Croatian fans

They state that Orbán and Vučić express great affection openly and that this was also seen on Wednesday in Slovenia, at the Bled Strategic Forum, also attended by the Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković.

One of the biggest stars was certainly the Hungarian leader Orbán, who quarreled with the President of the European Parliament, David Sassoli, and maintained his status as the enfant terrible of the European Union, according to the Index.

Orbán expressed full support for Serbia's membership in the European Union, and even determined that the European Union needs Serbia more than the other way round.

Orbán: Serbia's membership in the EU is our geopolitical interest

"The European Union cannot talk about its security and European identity without Serbia, whose membership in the alliance is a geopolitical interest," Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said in Bled, at a panel on the future of Europe.

"Serbia is key. Without Serbia as an EU member, we cannot talk about security or the entire European identity. European Union needs Serbia more than Serbia needs the EU," Orbán concluded. Serbia has not heard such praise from a leader of a European Union member for a long time. Orbán's support for Serbia does not have a significant impact on Croatian state policy, but it does have an impact on a part of the Croatian political scene, writes Index.hr, as the Croatian right idolizes Orbán. Namely, Viktor Orbán has long been a hero of the Croatian right, self-proclaimed patriots and sovereignists, according to the portal. His moves were openly admired by Stjepo Bartulica, Hrvoje Zekanović, Željka Markić, Velimir Bujanec and many other actors of the right-wing socio-political scene.

For all of them, Serbia is one of the biggest enemies of Croatia, so it is not impossible that Orbán's twinning with Vučić causes this cognitive dissonance.

However, there is nothing unknown in the fact that Orbán loves Serbia and Vučić more than the protagonist of the Croatian extreme right. He visits Vučić, hangs out with him, and he probably doesn't even know that they exist, it is further stated in the analysis.

Two weeks ago, Orbán was in Belgrade with Vučić. At the joint press conference, they shared compliments with each other. "I am telling Mr. Orbán that he is always welcome here, that he feels at home here, and I thank him for advocating for Serbia's European path," Vucic said.

Orbán replied that the numbers were not lying and that he was also a witness to the development of Serbia, adding that Serbia can always count on the friendship of Hungary.

"The European Union must understand that Serbia is key to the stability of the Western Balkans and that it is key to the European integration of the region," the Hungarian Prime Minister said.

"Hungary will always be able to count on Serbian friendship," Vucic said, to which Orbán replied: "Serbia can count on Hungary." President of Serbia said that everyone in the region sees Hungary as a factor of stability and thanked Orbán for, despite criticism, advocating for Serbia's European path.

"I can only thank Hungary and Orbán because they were ready to accept criticism and attacks and sincerely stand up for Serbia. People in Serbia are proud to have such friends and such neighbors, and we will see that we keep it in the future", added President Vučić.

Orbán published an advertisement in a European newspaper calling for Serbia's accession to the European Union. Orbán's paid advertisements "On the future of the EU - Hungarian proposals" were published in several high-circulation newspapers in Europe, including German Bild, French Figaro, Swedish Dagens Industri, Croatian Vecernji list, Spanish ABC, Czech Young Front DNES. Some newspapers, such as Belgium's Standard or Luxembourg's Wort, declined to publish the ad, saying they did not want to serve as "a platform for openly authoritarian and anti-democratic politicians like Viktor Orbán".

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Croatia said that Croatia has its own policy that advocates greater EU integration and does not support Orbán's ideas, including preferential treatment for Serbia, which has actually stood in its way on the European path.

Croatian sovereignists call on "Croatian Orbán" for years

The Croatian sovereignists only have to announce that they agree with Orbán in six points, but not in the seventh, that Serbia should be admitted to the EU, the Index further writes.

Previously, their representative Hrvoje Zekanović called on Orbán in Croatia. "Croatia must not be a hostage of Brussels ambitions. Croatia needs a Croatian Orbán, and, unfortunately, I don't see an O from Orbán either," Zekanovic said in the controversy in the 2018 parliament.

Zvonimir Troskot from Mostar was also conciliatory, who even emphasized that some of Orbán's views are already in Most's program. "All detected problems of the European Union are standing. We have already talked about them and they were part of our program for the European elections. A huge problem of such an EU is the democratic deficit and we will continue to talk about it," Troskot told the media.

As for the invitation for Serbia's membership in the EU, Troskot got away with the techniques of "fulfilling the conditions", as if Orbán's support for Serbia is not a political or even a state position. When Orbán recently left the European People's Party, he immediately received the support of the Homeland Movement. (It is not known if he was looking for it at all.)

"Mr. Orbán has been dissatisfied with his status in the EPP for a long time. I think that his colleagues treated him unfairly and that will cause great political changes in the EU. Hungary is a very important country and a significant ally in the group, strengthening the conservative bloc, and the Poles get a strong ally. The Homeland Movement cooperates most closely with them and we expect to get closer to that group and I expect constructive cooperation from Hungarian colleagues", the head of the Homeland Movement MP Club Stjepo Bartulica praised his cooperation with Vučić's great friend Orbán.

With his policy, Orbán is actually completely trampling on the foreign policy goals of the Croatian right towards Serbia, which he wants to keep out of the EU for as long as possible and blackmail in the accession process, the Index analyzes.

The following text states that in addition to being the biggest supporter of Vučić and Serbia, Orbán is also known for his love of fantasizing about what it would be like if some parts of today's Croatia were actually part of Greater Hungary.

Last year, Orbán sent congratulations on his Facebook to high school graduates who write history at high school. Along with the congratulations, a map of Greater Hungary was published, which includes a part of Croatia, all the way to Rijeka and Dalmatia. It is a map showing the territory of Hungary in the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy, when it spread at the expense of neighboring nations. Such a Great Hungary disappeared with the Treaty of Trianon in 1920, after the First World War.

This was not the first time for Orbán to publish a map of Hungary in borders wider than today, which include important territories of neighboring countries. The year before last, the Office for International Communication of the Hungarian government published on its Twitter a historical map of Hungary, which includes a large part of Slovenia, but also parts of Croatia, such as Medjimurje, parts of Baranja and Kvarner.

Orban prefers Vučić to Croatian sovereignists

All this indicates that HDZ's inclination towards Hungarians and leniency towards Orbán, mostly due to INA and Croatia's entry into Schengen, are a much smaller problem than the idolatry that reigns on the Croatian clerical and extreme right towards the Hungarian Prime Minister.

They adore Orbán because he is against migrants, he calls for Christian Europe, he forbids "LGBT propaganda", he quarrels with Brussels, etc., so they ignore that he is at the same time Vučić's ally in the European Union.

The question is whether ignoring reality turns into high treason, to use the so-called favorite accusation. There is no doubt that the relationship between Hungary and Serbia is good for mutual benefit, as well as the relationship between Orbán and Vučić, which additionally shows that Hungary has opposite goals from the Croatian sovereigns and that it has much more political power.

Therefore, it will be interesting to see how the self-proclaimed patriots will react to the great affection between Orban and Vučić, while Orbán continues to ignore their love, the paper concludes.