{"id":35289,"date":"2021-02-26T16:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-02-26T14:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ostro.si\/?p=35289"},"modified":"2026-06-09T12:38:06","modified_gmt":"2026-06-09T10:38:06","slug":"how-to-buy-a-home-with-hungarian-taxpayers-money","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ostro.si\/en\/stories\/how-to-buy-a-home-with-hungarian-taxpayers-money\/","title":{"rendered":"How to buy a home with Hungarian taxpayers\u2019 money"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\n

In the eastern Croatian region of Baranja lies Kotlina, a small village with a population of less than 300, 88 percent of them Hungarian. The village boasts a newly renovated house with yellow bricks and a massive iron gate. On the gate there is a logo with two letters, HM, for everyone to see. <\/p>\n

HM stands for the Democratic Community of Hungarians in Croatia, a key body of the national minority that is financed by the Croatian and Hungarian governments. It is led by R\u00f3bert Jankovics, a member of parliament who represents the Hungarian minority. <\/p>\n

The house renovation in Baranja, an impoverished region where the majority of the 14.000 Croatian Hungarians live, was co-financed by an organisation which received money from the Hungarian government via the Bethlen G\u00e1bor Fund (BGA) \u2013 the main source of funds for the country\u2019s minority around the world.<\/p>\n

The most recent \u00bbHungarian House\u00ab in Croatia was established this January in Villa Anna, a house in the port city of Rijeka which will also host a Hungarian honorary consulate.<\/p>\n

Hungarian minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade P\u00e9ter Szijj\u00e1rt\u00f3 visited the opening and met with Jankovics who later said \u00bbthat the situation of Hungarians in Croatia plays a key role in Hungarian-Croatian relations, and that we can always count on the support of the Hungarian government\u00ab, as reported by K\u00e9pes \u00dajs\u00e1g, a minority weekly published by DZMH.<\/p>\n

DZMH is one of many Hungarian minority organizations which are partly funded by BGA, and occasionally other sources. Among them are three which are connected to DZMH and whose leaders are close to the Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orb\u00e1n. <\/p>\n

In a regional investigation called Hungarian money, Orb\u00e1n\u2019s control<\/em><\/a> a group of journalists analyzed how these funds have been spent in Slovenia, Serbia, Slovakia, Romania and Croatia. In the past decade the fund approved grants for various projects in numerous countries for at least \u20ac 1,46 billion. Of this, \u20ac 26,6 million was in Croatia, according to BGA’s decisions to approve funding. <\/p>\n

The data used for this story came from a public database showing decisions for allocation of funds by BGA. Financial reports of BGA as well as data about contract payments are also available from another public site. But these databases are not compatible, comprehensive or reconcilable. Reporters\u2019 analysis also shows great discrepancies in reported amounts. <\/p>\n

BGA and other Hungarian state sources fund the construction of playgrounds in kindergartens, financial incentives for parents to enroll children in Hungarian schools, financing purchases of agricultural land and support in setting up new businesses. <\/p>\n

On the other side of the interest spectrum are the BGA-backed football academy and stadium in the southeastern town of Osijek and the recent financial backing of a small football club in nearby Vardarac. Millions of euros have been spent in the name of football. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
A newly renovated house of the Democratic community of Hungarians in Croatia.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

DZMH\u2019s solitary reign<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The influence of DZMH in the minority community began growing in 2016 when the organization\u2019s candidate R\u00f3bert Jankovics was elected to the Croatian parliament. He won by a tight margin but his election was mired by allegations of bribery in exchange for voters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In fact, in 2019 two people were convicted at a lower court of bribing non-Hungarian Croats to declare themselves Hungarian to be eligible to vote for the list that was led by DMZH candidate Jankovics. The court\u2019s judgement is not yet final.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After Jankovics\u2019 election, the Union of Hungarian Associations which supported the opposing candidate was liquidated. DZMH could thus become the main organization connecting Hungarians in Croatia with their mother state.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2020, grants in the amount of \u20ac 692 thousand were allocated to Hungarian minority organisations from the Croatian state budget. Of that, DZMH and its local branches were granted at least \u20ac 645 thousand.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

According to the decisions to allocate funds, the BGA financed DZMH alone with a total of at least \u20ac 720 thousand Between 2011 and 2019. Additionally, the organization\u2019s annual income almost tripled in recent years, from \u20ac 459 thousand in 2016 to \u20ac 1,3 million in 2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An additional \u20ac 9,5 million was alloted from BGA to organisations connected to DZMH, such as Europa AP, the Forum of Hungarian Teachers and the Hungarian Educational and Cultural Center.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Between 2011 and 2019 almost a half of DZMH\u2019s grant awards approved by the BGA (about \u20ac 340 thousand), was spent on investments in real estate, renovations of old country houses, such as the one in the village of Kotlina, and the construction of new ones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since 2011, the DZMH \u00bbhas financed or lobbied for financing to renovate different secular and religious buildings important to the Hungarian minority in Croatia\u00ab in 23 towns, mostly in Baranja but also in Rijeka and Zagreb, Jankovics told O\u0161tro.<\/p>\n\n\n\n