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Trump administration strongly opposed, yet PM Orbán risked escalation in Balkans because of Dodik?
A secretive mission signed off by PM Orbán is making waves across the Balkans after it emerged that Hungary’s Counter-Terrorism Centre (CTC) was ready to extract Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik from Banja Luka. What looked like routine joint training has now sparked serious questions about Hungary’s deepening ties with Republika Srpska, and just how far Orbán is willing to go to back one of his closest regional allies.
Orbán authorised CTC mission in Banja Luka
As we reported in late February, PM Orbán authorised a covert CTC mission to Banja Luka in preparation for the potential extraction of Milorad Dodik. Dodik himself has publicly declared the presence of 300 Hungarian counter-terrorism agents in Republika Srpska, claiming their arrival was coordinated directly with PM Orbán. While Bosnia’s border police acknowledged the entry of 70 Hungarian officers for joint exercises with RS police, Dodik’s broader statement has raised fresh concerns over Hungary’s deepening involvement in the region’s internal affairs. Now, more details have surfaced about this mysterious CTC mission.
Smuggling Dodik into Hungary
In a covert operation ordered by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, Hungary’s Counter-Terrorism Centre (CTC), led by Orbán’s former chief bodyguard János Hajdu, was dispatched to Banja Luka, the capital of Bosnia’s Serb Republic, to prepare for the extraction of Serbian separatist leader Milorad Dodik. Journalist Szabolcs Panyi revealed that CTC’s mission was to smuggle Dodik into Hungary via Croatia if Bosnian authorities attempted to arrest him following a court ruling.
Despite being sentenced to a year in prison, Dodik was not immediately detained due to his right to appeal. The plan was compromised when sensitive details of the operation were leaked, raising concerns over Hungary’s increasingly bold foreign policy moves and its alignment with controversial figures like Dodik and Vladimir Putin.
The US had been aware
Following the original exposé, Panyi uncovered further details about how the plan was foiled. According to European security officials, the United States had been aware of CTC’s activities from the outset. It quickly informed Croatian authorities, who readied themselves to intercept both Dodik and CTC agents at the border. The situation threatened to spark a regional crisis, with one EU official warning that it could have escalated into a conflict with “totally unpredictable consequences.” While rooted in political allegiance, PM Orbán’s clandestine efforts ultimately risked destabilising the Balkans and seriously strained Hungary’s relations with Western allies, especially the United States, which reportedly reacted with deep anger to the unauthorised operation.
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