Close to four million euros of Hungarian public funds went to three football academies in Slovakia in 2023

According to published documents, a number of organizations in Slovakia have again received budgetary support from the Hungarian government through the Bethlen Gábor Fund in 2023, 444 writes, based on a report by the Hungarian edition of the Slovak news portal DennikN, Napunk.

The money from the Hungarian government's cross-border cultural and educational support fund wasn't randomly allocated either! For example, three football academies located in Slovakia received a total of almost four million euros of Hungarian public funds.

The DAC academy in Dunajská Streda received nearly €1.2 million, Borsodsport, which operates the club in Košice, received €1.46 million in two tranches, and the Komárno football club received €1.32 million in two tranches.

The Reformed Christian Church of Slovakia received HUF 1.75 billion (more than €4.6 million euro) of Hungarian public funds in three tranches. The Hungarian government also transferred education grants worth €11.4 million (roughly HUF 4.3 billion) to organizations in Slovakia.

The Hungarian government has been allocating billions of forints for supporting Hungarian organizations outside of the country's borders for years now. Although Napunk has not yet been able to determine the total amount of money the Hungarian government approved for Hungarian organizations and institutions in Slovakia in 2023, the documents that have been made public show that last year, some organizations of high priority received more funding than they normally do.

Several of the organizations in Slovakia that benefited from Hungarian public funding have political connections. For example, organisations linked to local Hungarian politicians László Gubík and Örs Orosz as well as Gyula Bárdos, a politician of the Hungarian Alliance, (Magyar Szövetség) have also received subsidies.