The new government of North Macedonia will take a one-billion-euro loan from Hungary, BGNES reports.
Hungarian media note that this is the biggest loan the government in Budapest has granted since Prime Minister Viktor Orban has held power in his country.
The incoming RSM Minister of Transport and Communications, Alexander Nikoloski, confirmed that the cabinet will take one billion euros from abroad, "not from China, but from an EU and NATO member state."
"VMRO-DPMNE and former Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski, who lives in exile in our country, are the Macedonian allies of the Fidesz and Viktor Orban government. The gestures made to the Balkan political allies point to Hungary, and the likely creditor is Eximbank," the Hungarian online media 444 wrote.
The funding includes €250 million for municipalities and as much for chambers of commerce, as well as a new investment in the energy sector of €460 million. The interest on the loan will be 3%.
Hungary's Radio Club recalls "the focus of Hungarian foreign policy on the Balkans, as well as the announcement of a policy of Hungarian investment linked to the National Cooperation System (NER), a network of political and cultural institutions and private corporations close to Orban."
"Orban's adviser Arpad Habony has invested in media close to VMRO-DPMNE in Macedonia in recent years, and it is suspected that they have contributed to the party's financial base," the media outlet specified.
BGNES reminds that Gruevski ruled the Republic of Macedonia single-handedly for 10 years (2006-2016). He resigned after mass protests by many thousands and revelations of serious corruption schemes, total control over the judiciary and the media. At the end of 2017, he fled to Hungary. Viktor Orban's government refused to extradite him. Gruevski personally imposed Christian Mickoski as leader of VMRO-DPMNE. Mickoski has never once condemned his predecessor's abuse of power and one-man rule. | BGNES
