Hungary: China-funded high-speed railway to link Budapest and Belgrade
Construction of a new high-speed rail link connecting the Hungarian and Serbian capitals is well underway. The €2 billion project on the Hungarian side of the border is China's biggest investment in Europe, but comes at a very high price for the people living along the route.
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00:00 Judith is looking at her former home in the village of Kelebjo, near the Hungarian-Serbian
00:07 border. She and her family lived here for 45 years.
00:13 They told us that they wanted to expand the railway, so that our flat would be their own.
00:25 Judith's home was one of six houses in the village earmarked for demolition.
00:31 Kelebjo is situated on the route of the new Belgrade-Budapest high-speed railway.
00:44 She says that the deal she got from the state, which paid her just over 18,000 euros, was
00:49 unfair.
01:06 The new two-track high-speed railway line will connect the Hungarian capital, Budapest,
01:11 with the Serbian capital, Belgrade, in Southeastern Europe.
01:14 The line will be part of a railway reconstruction programme that seeks to create a corridor
01:19 running from the port of Piraeus in Greece, through North Macedonia, Serbia and Hungary
01:24 and into Western Europe.
01:27 This corridor will line up with one of the routes of China's Belt and Road initiative,
01:31 thereby enhancing Chinese-European trade.
01:34 The Belgrade-Budapest railway is seen as the most important European project in the Belt
01:39 and Road initiative.
01:41 According to Samina Salten, an economist at the German Economic Institute, it has both
01:46 economic and political objectives.
01:48 Beijing could use the Belt and Road initiatives as a geopolitical tool.
01:55 Through this means of providing unbureaucratic finance, building better infrastructure and
02:04 generally more economic linkages, China is expanding its influence throughout the world.
02:12 China's international lending practices have been criticised in recent years for putting
02:17 many countries in a debt trap.
02:20 Samina Salten cites the examples of Montenegro and Sri Lanka, both of which came close to
02:25 bankruptcy because they were unable to repay their loans from China.
02:30 The reconstruction of the 152-kilometre Hungarian section of the line between Budapest and the
02:36 Serbian border alone costs nearly 2 billion euros.
02:41 85% of this mega-investment will be financed by a loan from China.
02:46 The remaining 15% will come from the Hungarian state.
02:54 In a way one could say through these loans these countries become dependent on China
03:00 because they have to pay back these loans to China.
03:03 And it's a bilateral relationship and in that relationship China can set the rules.
03:10 The Hungarian government of Prime Minister Viktor Orban announced its Eastern Opening
03:15 Foreign Policy Strategy in 2010.
03:19 Since then Hungary has become the most pro-China country in the EU.
03:25 Orban still insists that the project will be a profitable investment.
03:39 The works are being carried out by two Chinese companies and a company owned by a Hungarian
03:44 businessman with very close ties to the Prime Minister.
03:47 The project is scheduled for completion in 2025.
03:54 After a long struggle, Judith finally succeeded with the help of a lawyer in getting the state
03:59 railway company to pay her a higher sum for her home.
04:03 Nevertheless it is still not enough to buy another home in Kelebiyor.
04:07 The project is being carried out by two Chinese companies and a company owned by a Hungarian
04:14 businessman with very close ties to the Prime Minister.
04:14 The project is being carried out by two Chinese companies and a company owned by a Hungarian
04:16 businessman with very close ties to the Prime Minister.
04:16 [BLANK_AUDIO]