HUNGARIAN Prime Minister Viktor Orban posted a congratulatory message to the students taking history on their graduation exams on his Facebook page yesterday. Along with the message, he also posted a map of Greater Hungary, which includes half of the Croatian territory, all the way to Rijeka and Dalmatia. That map shows the territory of Hungary during the period of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy, when it was spreading on the territory of neighboring countries. This Greater Hungary was put out of existence with the Treaty of Trianon of 1920, after World War I.
Let's imagine for a moment that the Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic posts a map of Greater Serbia with the border Virovitica - Karlovac - Karlobag on social networks. There is no doubt there would be a fierce official reaction from Zagreb and from the Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs would surely send a protest note. However, when it comes to Orban's provocations, the ruling party HDZ is very reluctant, even submissive to Croatia's northern neighbor.
Only Milanovic had a clear reaction to Orban's provocation
The exception is the Facebook reaction of President Zoran Milanovic, who stated that Orban's post was a "provocation" and that one should "learn from history, but look towards the future." However, during Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic's time in Pantovcak, Hungary had a special status, to the point where the former President defended Hungary's decision to block Croatia from entering the OECD, even from Budapest.
Plenkovic is also pursuing an overly submissive policy towards Orban and Hungary, systematically ignoring the arrogant and unfair insistence of the Hungarian Prime Minister when it comes to promoting Greater Hungary.
Orban is constantly provoking with the map of Greater Hungary
This is not the first time that Orban has posted a map of Hungary, with extended borders that are encompassing considerable territories of neighboring countries.
This summer, the International Communications Office of the Hungarian government posted a historical map of Hungary on its Twitter account, which included a large part of Slovenia, but also parts of Croatia, such as Medjimurje, a part of Baranja and Kvarner.
The map was posted on Twitter by a member of an office within the cabinet of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, suggesting that significant parts of Croatia should belong to Hungary.
Fierce reaction from Slovenia
The fact that the map in question was posted on the official channel of the Hungarian authorities caused a lot of controversy in Slovenia. "Slovenia condemns the posting of this historical map, which does not contribute to the strengthening of European values or of good neighborly relations. The European Union was created as a project to overcome the historical burdens and hatred between nations and countries," the Slovenian Ministry of Foreign Affairs wrote on Twitter.
On Friday, President Borut Pahor reacted to the Hungarian map, as well as to similar provocations from Italy, pointing out the need to preserve mutual respect and friendship. Prime Minister Marjan Sarec also reacted to the posting of the Hungarian map, calling this behavior "neither European nor pacific."
There was no reaction from Croatia at the time.
Significant meetings on energy cooperation
It is interesting that a few days after this provocation, the Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs Peter Szijjarto visited Zagreb, where he met with the Minister of Environment and Energy Tomislav Coric to discuss their cooperation in the energy industry field. No one drew Szijjarto's attention to the fact that it was inappropriate to post historical maps expressing territorial claims to Croatia.
Cooperation with Hungary is crucial to Plenkovic's government, as the Prime Minister himself has admitted and shown, which is why he does not mind constant Hungarian provocations.
The Croatian Prime Minister hosted Orban in Osijek last November and assessed that Croatia and Hungary are friendly countries interested in strengthening their cooperation, as well as in developing projects with a cross-border dimension. The two Prime Ministers opened a student dormitory together.
Orban's outburst in Osijek
Plenkovic told the reporters that the opening of the dormitory of the Hungarian Educational and Cultural Center in Osijek, whose construction was financed by the Croatian Government with HRK 10,000,000, was a symbolic sign of respect for the Hungarian minority in Croatia.
Orban gave him his thanks for the hospitality in his speech by reminding everyone that "80, 90 or 100 years ago Slavonia and the Hungarian county of Baranja were the richest parts of our country, which other people envied because of their high standard of living. If we managed to do it before, I simply don't believe that we wouldn't be able to do it again."
"I believe that once again, people will envy the Hungarian county of Baranja and Slavonia in Croatia," Orban said at the time.
The nostalgia with which Orban spoke about the period when Croatia was under Hungary's rule is noticeable. He talked about "our country," and it remains unclear whether he was talking about Hungary or a shared state. Orban maintained a similar tone for the rest of his speech.
Plenkovic listened to all that in silence.
A map of Hungary including the Croatian territory can also be found at the headquarters of Fidesz
As there was no reaction from Croatia, Orban continued furthering his agenda. In December of last year, he held a meeting of the presidency of his right-wing populist party Fidesz. That in itself would not have been important news if he had not held it under a huge framed map of "historic Hungary", which includes a large part of Croatia, all the way to Rijeka and Dalmatia.
The map appears to be a permanent fixture in Fidesz premises. Orban himself posted the photo on Facebook, namely with the description: "Advent meeting of the party presidency."
Prime Minister Plenkovic finally decided to break his submissive silence, but he commented on the whole matter rather half-heartedly.
Plenkovic instructed Grlic Radman to talk to the Hungarians
"Our Ministry of Foreign Affairs will hold talks with the Hungarians regarding this. As far as I understand it, this is not the first time this map has appeared at a Fidesz meeting," Plenkovic says. Current Croatian borders are as they are, he says, adding that Croatia must cooperate with its neighbors.
The Prime Minister delegated the matter to Minister Gordan Grlic Radman, probably the most bizarre Minister of Foreign Affairs Croatia has ever had, known for his chatter and clumsy statements. However, Grlic Radman obviously did not really stand up for Croatia when dealing with his Hungarian colleagues. Instead, similar to Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic before him, he defended Hungary from criticism of it stifling democracy, as well as of the fact that Orban used the pandemic in order to seize dictatorial powers.
Grlic Radman defends Orban's dictatorial powers: Democracy is a matter of perception
Commenting on anti-democratic tendencies in the midst of the corona crisis in Europe, as well as on his attitude towards Viktor Orban, Grlic Radman said that the Fidesz party's status within the European People's Party was frozen, as well as that the HDZ had not discussed that.
"We are prioritizing the fight against the crisis, and Hungary as a neighboring country was among the first to respond, with their government sending us hundreds of thousands of protective masks and suits that we needed. It was the first donation we received. The Comité des Sages is going to make a decision on this matter, so why should the HDZ take a stance on it? The European People's Party is a family of Christian democratic parties, Fidesz's status is currently frozen, we are currently a mediator in the EU, and unity is in our interest. We cannot point fingers at a particular country," he said.
Speaking about democracy, he said that it is a matter of perception and that there are different approaches in different countries.
"Other countries can have a different opinion. It is necessary to assess what the law is and what the consequences are. That is an issue pertaining to the internal policy of each country. The rule of law should be assessed for each country," Radman said in a TV interview on April 19.
EPP leader condemns Orban
Grlic Radman said all this as the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the country holding the presidency of the European Union, making sure that no criticism of Hungary came from Croatia. A few days earlier, Donald Tusk, leader of the European People's Party (EPP), announced that the political group would expel Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban's Fidesz party from its ranks by the end of the year.
Tusk told the German Der Spiegel that the Hungarian emergency law may not be controversial from a legal point of view, but that "it has nothing to do with the spirit of democracy."
"How many times in history have we witnessed politicians using laws to expand their powers? You in Germany are familiar with this," said the former European Council president and current EPP leader. The HDZ is part of the EPP, but it is among the few that have sided with Orban in every conflict between Orban and the EU.
The HDZ has been defending Hungarian interests in Brussels for years
There are plenty of examples, from voting against the report in the European Parliament documenting the collapse of democratic institutions in Hungary and calling for the suspension of its vote in EU institutions, to opposing that EU funding be dependent on the respect for the rule of law. In other words, with its extremely lenient policy towards Orban, Croatia is going against the mainstream of the European Union and the EPP, which is usually not a characteristic of Plenkovic's European policy.
This has not gone unnoticed by Hungary, whose Minister of Foreign Affairs has recently praised its faithful poodle.
Szijjarto: Despite the pressure from the liberal mainstream, Croatia has not joined the attacks against Hungary
On April 24, Szijjarto gave his thanks to Croatia for not giving in to the pressure of the "international liberal mainstream" and not joining the international attacks on his country, but showing friendship and solidarity instead.
"We are grateful that Croatia did not join those who are persistently attacking Hungary despite the pressure from the international liberal mainstream," Szijjarto told the press in the statement he gave alongside his Croatian colleague Gordan Grlic Radman at the Gorican-Letenye border crossing.
"Croatia has never sided with the fake attacks against Hungary," he added.
In return, the Croatian Minister of Foreign Affairs brought everyone's attention to everything Hungary has done for Croatia and thanked his Hungarian colleague for the donation of 100,000 masks and 5,000 protective suits that arrived in Croatia in the moment of need, as well as for the help provided after the earthquake in Zagreb.
Grlic Radman sings praises to Hungary
Grlic Radman, the former Croatian ambassador to Hungary, also brought everyone's attention to two things Hungary had done for Croatia in the last 30 years or so: in 1991, it was among the first countries to seek international recognition of Croatia, and in 2001, when it held the EU presidency, it actively advocated the completion of Croatia's negotiations with the EU. The Croatian Minister of Foreign Affairs has basically been singing praises to Hungary in his speeches in recent months. He is speaking better of Hungary than of Croatia.
The relationship between Croatia and Hungary is thus increasingly reminiscent of a relationship where Hungary is constantly slapping Croatia with provocations, and Croatia is ready to turn the other cheek and give thanks.
The silence of Croatian sovereignists
Significantly, there is no reaction from the political forces that call themselves sovereignists, but obviously do not mind the Hungarian claim on Croatian territory and Orban's fantasies about the golden age when parts of Croatia belonged to Hungary. For that extreme right-wing part of the political spectrum, the self-proclaimed great patriots, Orban is an idol, and their blind love for him is obviously greater than their love for Croatia.
Following this catalog of Croatia's self-humiliation in front of Hungary, it is logical to ask the question: Why?
Plenkovic has, in fact, continued Tomislav Karamarko's conciliatory policy towards Hungary by trying to reach an agreement with Orban on INA, as well as on Hungary's support for the operation of the LNG terminal on Krk, whose cost-effectiveness is disputed by experts, but supported by the United States.
Hungary and the LNG terminal on Krk
Months of kneeling before Orban seem to have paid off. After a telephone conversation with Minister Coric yesterday, the Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs Szijjarto told the media that "cooperation with Croatia in the energy field is still a priority for Hungary because the more sources we can buy gas from, the safer our stocks are."
Hungary still has a special interest in cooperation with Croatia in the energy field, Szijjarto stressed, referring to Coric's announcement that Croatia's LNG terminal could start operating next January. Recently, the company MET Croatia Energy Trade (MET), which is close to Orban, submitted a binding offer to the company LNG Hrvatska for the lease of the capacities of LNG terminals on the island of Krk for a three-year period, namely in the total amount of 1.3 billion cubic meters.
Apparently, Plenkovic concluded that kneeling before Orban was worth it.
Plenkovic is making Croatia dependent on Hungary in terms of energy
Unfortunately, the Prime Minister does not see the bigger picture, that is, the fact that Croatia is, in terms of energy, becoming quite dependent on neighboring Hungary, a country that does not have any significant natural resources or a more advanced energy industry than Croatia.
Hungarians are already running INA, primarily thanks to the criminal machinations of HDZ's former Prime Minister Ivo Sanader, and the Croatian judicial system has for years failed to get to Zslot Hernadi, the head of MOL and Orban's confidant, who is accused of corruption in Croatia. Now the LNG on Krk also depends on Hungarian goodwill.
Hungarian Prime Minister Orban obviously knows that he has put Croatia in a position of dependence, so he does not hesitate to constantly promote the Greater Hungary, knowing that Plenkovic will refrain from commenting, let alone condemning his speeches, as well as that the Croatian Minister of Foreign Affairs Grlic Radman will kneel before Hungary.
The sucking up continues
And that is exactly how it turned out when Grlic Radman commented on Orban's latest outburst today. Although the head of the diplomacy should not be expected to rudely snap at the Prime Minister of the neighboring country because of his repeated provocations, his response could have been better than just another praise of Hungary.
"In general, any territorial claims in the European Union are unthinkable as all countries have recognized each other," said the head of Croatian diplomacy, adding that "the border between Hungary and Croatia has always been known."
"The existence of historical maps that can be bought in an antique shop, and not be searched for in a closet, does not reflect reality and I think that this is an attempt of diverting attention from topics that are real, such as building a common future," said Grlic Radman.
He assessed that the two countries have an excellent relationship, citing the example of minority protection and tourism, as well as the fact that Hungary was among the first countries to recognize Croatia, and that more than fifty Hungarians gave their lives in the Croatian Homeland War.
Croatia and Hungary have a relationship based on Hungary humiliating Croatia, to which the Croatian government reacts by praising Hungary even more. There is no doubt that this is a great relationship for Hungary, but it is far from perfect for Croatia.