Hungarian loan under investigation: Filipche claims Chinese money entered Macedonia via Orban

The loan of nearly one billion euros that the Government obtained through the Hungarian Eximbank is no longer just a domestic political topic. Hungarian authorities have opened a criminal investigation into suspected abuses at the bank, and the transactions with Macedonia are among the cases being examined.

Venko Filipche used this development to mount a fierce attack on Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski. The president of SDSM said the loan is the subject of an investigation and claims that Western strategic partners know that Chinese money entered the country, first through the Hungarian financial arrangement, and then through announced municipal projects.

“The loan that is now the subject of an investigation... our strategic partners, the United States of America, already clearly know that Chinese money is entering and had entered the country,” Filipche said.

Two parts of this statement must be strictly separated. It has been confirmed that Hungarian authorities are investigating alleged abuses in the state Eximbank and that the two credit lines for Macedonia, with a total value of about 988 million euros, are part of the broader review. That, by itself, does not prove illegal conduct by the Macedonian Government.

The claim that American authorities have concrete knowledge of Chinese money that entered Macedonia through this loan is a political accusation by Filipche. At the press conference he did not present diplomatic documents or an official statement from the USA. There are independent analyses that link the source of the Hungarian financing to a previous Chinese line of credit, but the origin of the funds and any legal responsibility must be determined by the competent institutions.

The investigation is real, guilt is not predetermined

According to reports by Deutsche Welle and European Western Balkans, the Hungarian investigation covers multiple foreign transactions of Eximbank. The loans for Macedonia were approved with a fixed interest rate of 3.25 percent, a term of 15 years and a three-year grace period, with a full Hungarian state guarantee. Investigators are checking whether procedures were followed and whether the funds were used according to their intended purpose.

Filipche posed the question the Government cannot avoid: exactly where did the money come from, under what political and financial conditions was it provided and what did the citizens receive? He asked whether living standards improved, whether wages rose and where the visible results are.

There are also verifiable facts that must be acknowledged. Part of the credit line was directed to domestic companies, and part to municipal infrastructure projects, among them schools, kindergartens, sports halls, streets and other local infrastructure. The Government claims the arrangement provides favorable funds for development and that the projects are implemented through public tenders.

Mickoski owes a full trace of the money

Precisely for that reason, the strongest response to the suspicions is not a party press release, but a complete tracing of the money: the contracts with Eximbank, sources of financing, the conditions, the beneficiaries, the municipal projects, the companies that received funds and the measurable results. If the arrangement is clean and beneficial, transparency can only confirm that.

Filipche accused Mickoski of binding the state to non-transparent centers of power with the Hungarian loan. The investigation in Budapest now gives additional weight to the demand for accountability, but it must not be abused as a pre-judgment. Macedonia has the right to facts: who provided the funds, who profited and whether the public interest was protected.

Photo: frame from the SDSM press conference