Plane of Hungarian State Secretary for Foreign Affairs not allowed to land in Bosnia and Herzegovina

A Hungarian military plane was been banned from landing in Bosnia and Herzegovina on Monday by the Bosnian Defense Minister, Zukan Helez. The minister wrote on his Facebook page that the plane was supposed to land first at the airport in Sarajevo and then at Banja Luka, but was not allowed to do so.

"I am firmly convinced that the military plane arrived from Hungary to provide some kind of support to Milorad Dodik and the clique gathered around him in destroying Bosnia and Herzegovina. My refusal to consent to the flyover/landing of the military aircraft has put me under enormous pressure from both the international community and domestic mediators over the past three days," Zukan Helez wrote.

444 reported that the plane in question was that of Levente Magyar, the State Secretary for Foreign Affairs. "On 3 March, State Secretary for Foreign Affairs Levente Magyar was supposed to travel to Sarajevo and Banja Luka for official meetings. As the government of Bosnia and Herzegovina did not grant permission for the flight to enter the country, the timeframe available only allowed for the visit to Banja Luka. We are currently seeking an opportunity to hold consultations in Sarajevo," the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade said.

In his post, the Bosnian Defense Minister also wrote that Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán consistently provides support to the President of the Republika Srpska, Milorad Dodik, in his uprooting and undermining of the constitutional order of Bosnia and Herzegovina. He said that it remains unclear what the members of the Hungarian Counter-Terrorism Centre (TEK) are doing in Bosnia and Herzegovina. When contacted by Telex, the TEK said that its 70-strong detachment was in the Republika Srpska for training purposes as part of an international police cooperation programme.

Last Wednesday, the President of the Republika Srpska, Milorad Dodik, was sentenced to prison in the first instance on charges of refusing to take into account the decisions of High Representative Christian Schmidt. Levente Magyar commented on the event on his social media account saying: "We stand by the Bosnian Serb community which is being blamed, and reject any external pressure!" The State Secretary also said that the stability of Bosnia and Herzegovina is not under threat from Dodik, who has repeatedly threatened that the Bosnian Serbs would secede, but from "Western governments that are doing everything they can against peace in Ukraine".

"They are interfering in the country's internal affairs with colonialist, imperialistic arrogance, and continue to foment tensions that have led to war several times in the past," wrote Levente Magyar.

We previously wrote about the Orbán government's connections with the Bosnian Serbs, and the business and political interests in this article.