Viktor Orbán is now imitating Vladimir Putin’s playbook – The operation deep in Africa came to light

Prime Minister of Hungary Viktor Orbán plans to send 200 soldiers to Chad, located in the Sahel desert region of Africa. Orbán met the president of Chad Mahamat Idriss Deby Itnon in Budapest last week and touted the country’s role in stemming immigration.

“Immigration from Africa to Europe cannot be stopped without the countries of the Sahel region. This is why Hungary is building a partnership for cooperation with Chad,” Orbán wrote on the messaging service in X.

Among other things, they reported on the matter German wave and Foreign Policyaccording to which Orbán’s real interests may lie elsewhere. Experts blame him Vladimir Putin of mimicking the playbook.

Russia has gained influence in Africa recently Yevgeny Prigozhin Through the Wagner mercenary company. Wagner secured military dictatorships in unstable countries and obtained mining licenses for the countries’ rich natural resources. After Prigozhin had to be killed by the Kremlin, Russia has continued Wagner’s activities with a private army called Africa Corps, which is now controlled by the Russian Ministry of Defense.

Now Orbán is doing exactly the same as Putin, i.e. trying to gain influence with cheap security investments, FP writes.

Are natural resources attractive to Orbán?

Ghanaian security policy researcher Fidel Amakye Owusu – The Best Of Fidel Amakye Owusu tells DW that, like Putin, Orbán has financial interests in the Sahel region. According to Owusu, Hungary might be attracted to the Sahel and Chad by the region’s oil, uranium, gold and other natural resources.

Hungary has been building its relations with Chad for months. It has proposed opening an embassy in the country, provided between $150 million and $200 million in aid to the country’s food and agriculture sectors, and offered scholarships to Chadian students at Hungarian universities.

Is Orbán advancing Russia’s interests?

Now we have to send soldiers to the country, and some experts fear that Hungary will promote Russian interests in the country. Military coups have taken place in several Sahel countries in recent years, and the generals have sought support from Russian forces for their power. In Niger and Mali, the theme of the coups has been the severance of military relations with the former colonial master France.

The Hungarian government has denied that it acts in the Sahel in accordance with the interests of Russia or anyone else. Despite ongoing disputes between Brussels and Budapest, the EU has welcomed the Chad plan.

Chad is a strategically important country for Western countries in the terrorism-ridden Sahel region. The country is France’s last stronghold in the Sahel and has taken in EU troops kicked out of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger.

What also makes the situation extraordinary is that when operating abroad, Hungary has traditionally been involved in various military coalitions, but now it operates alone. This may create challenges for the Hungarian forces.

Orbán boy sighed in Sahelissa

Orbán has also been accused of favoring his own inner circle in the Chad project. The World revealed in January together with the Hungarian investigative journalism site Direkt36 that Orbán’s son Gaspar Orbán has managed Hungary’s negotiations in Chad in secret. Gaspar tried to cover his face in the photos, but people who know the prime minister’s son recognized him from the photos.