The Hungarian government is spending an increasing amount of money on boosting its foreign political influence, allocating billions of euros for lending to high-risk-rated Balkan and African countries – such as Chad and the Republic of Maldives – and providing loans to a privileged circle of companies, the so-called national champions, to support their expansion. The interest rate on the loan granted to North Macedonia is barely more than half of what the state-owned Eximbank secures its funds for, meaning that the consolidation of the Balkan country – governed once by the party of former Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski, who fled to Hungary in 2018 – is partly borne by Hungarian taxpayers. Viktor Orbán’s exorbitant loans to high-risk countries