Former Hungarian President Shows Green Credentials in North Macedonia

President of Hungary Janos Ader delivers his speech during a high-level debate of the UN General Assembly on climate change and sustainable development in the organisation's headquarters in New York, USA, 28 March 2019. EPA-EFE/NOEMI BRUZAK

Government critics in Hungary point out the irony that the tender was won by an organisation with precious little experience of waste management and a founder who only paid lip service to environmental issues in Hungary during his ten-year stint as president. Ader's Blue Planet Climate Protection Foundation, established in 2016 in order to raise awareness about climate change, and to find and promote solutions for a sustainable future, has been generously financed by the Fidesz government over the years to the tune of several million euros.

According to Laszlo Sitanyi, director of the Blue Planet Climate Protection Foundation, the 1-million-euro tender won by his organisation will be funded by the EU and its task will be to present "European best practices" to the government in Skopje, and help create and implement the system which would best suit the country.

The waste management program will be implemented within the framework of the country's preparation for EU accession, the so-called Twinning cooperation, an instrument which brings together public sector expertise from EU member states and beneficiary countries to achieve concrete results.

The Blue Planet Climate Protection Foundation will function as project manager, and the work itself will be managed by Hungarians, though experts from various European countries will be involved, the statement said.

The foundation will also assist the government in Skopje with preparing the IT background for waste management activities and launching public...