Transylvania holds a special place in Hungarian national identity and the ‘trauma’ – harnessed by Fidesz – of the post-World War One carve-up of the Austro-Hungarian empire that cost pre-1920 Hungary two-thirds of its territory and stranded half its population beyond the borders of the redrawn state.

Pursuing the ‘virtual unification’ of all Hungarians, Orban has made it easier for them to gain Hungarian citizenship and poured money into ethnic Hungarian communities in Slovenia, Serbia, Slovakia, Ukraine and Romania via local proxies.

That spending has been biggest in Transylvania – roughly 145 million euros in 2017 and a similar amount in 2018. In 2018, Hungary launched the Pro Economica foundation – a replica of smaller foundations in Slovenia and Serbia – to funnel a promised 312 million euros in small grants for agricultural development.

As in other countries, scrutiny of how such funds operate is not easy.

“Pro Economica is a private foundation, so FOIA [Freedom of Information Request] doesn’t apply,” said Sipos. “This is the next step in making the trail of the money coming from Hungary totally opaque.”

In addition, other funds arrive from Hungarian government ministries and municipalities, via cultural programmes and sponsorship by state-owned companies. As in Serbia and Slovenia, Hungary has bankrolled sports facilities while Hungarian passport-holders in Romania can apply for family welfare subsidies from the Hungarian state as well.

Some tenders can be found online, some programmes appear only in the Hungarian state budget, but there is no single database that contains all spending on ethnic Hungarians communities outside of Hungary.

The biggest recipient in Romania is the Reformed Church in Romania, with more than 130 million euros. The Church is led by Béla Kató, who has dismissed widespread speculation that he is a good friend of Orban, saying they have only a good relationship.

Sipos, who has investigated the Hungarian spending in Transylvania, said the Church spent half of its allotment on renovating churches and considerable sums on upgrading kindergartens, community buildings, homes for the elderly and other properties belonging to the Church.

“We don’t how the Church decides which property will be renovated. We don’t know how the Church chooses the contractors. But we know, for example, that in a project worth 2.9 million euros, the contractor was Constructii Comert Ilcom Ltd. The Kida Foundation, which is chaired by Kató, is 50 per cent owner of that company.” Kató has said previously that every effort would be made to prevent corruption.

Running kindergartens, schools and even a university, the Catholic and protestant churches in Transylvania are deeply embedded in ethnic Hungarian communities and are often the only provider of community programmes and support in small towns and villages. One Catholic parish evens owns an ice hockey academy that also benefited from Orban’s cash injections.

“The churches are well embedded into the Hungarian community in Transylvania,” said a source familiar with the workings of RMDSZ but who spoke on condition of anonymity.

“Also, historical experience shows that it is extremely difficult to seize properties from the church. That’s why the Hungarian state prefers them to any non-governmental organisation.”

Other big recipients are educational foundations such as the RMDSZ-founded Iskola Alapítvány and the church-founded Sapientia Alapítvány.