Viktor Orbán is no longer Hungary's prime minister, but he has clearly kept the line to Banja Luka open. The former Hungarian leader congratulated Milorad Dodik and the SNSD on their election result in Bosnia and Herzegovina, saying the party had won a strong mandate to keep fighting for the interests and rights of Republika Srpska.

"Grand slam! Congratulations to President Milorad Dodik and all our friends in SNSD, especially President Cvijanović and President Minić, on a convincing victory in the elections in Bosnia and Herzegovina and in Republika Srpska. A strong mandate to keep fighting for the interests and rights of Republika Srpska," Orbán wrote on X.

The numbers, at least for now, are on SNSD's side. According to preliminary data from Bosnia's Central Election Commission, with more than 90 percent of polling stations counted, Željka Cvijanović won 284,934 votes in the race for the Serb member of the BiH Presidency. SDS candidate Marinko Božović got 136,799 votes, and Nebojša Vukanović 93,389. For president of Republika Srpska, SNSD's Savo Minić collected 269,290 votes, against 216,867 for SDS's Branko Blanuša.

SNSD is also the single strongest party in the race for the National Assembly of Republika Srpska, with 38.85 percent. For the House of Representatives of the BiH Parliamentary Assembly from Republika Srpska, SNSD has 40.91 percent, ahead of the Sigurna Srpska movement on 15.10 and SDS on 13.13 percent. The entity president, the Serb member of the state Presidency and first place in the assembly - all of it stays with SNSD.

The interesting part isn't the congratulations themselves. Orbán and Dodik have been political allies for years, and Budapest openly backed Republika Srpska's leadership in its disputes with Western countries and with Bosnia's state institutions. What's interesting is where the message is coming from now. Fidesz lost the 12 April parliamentary election to Péter Magyar's Tisza party, ending Orbán's 16 years of uninterrupted rule. Magyar took over as prime minister on 9 May, while Orbán stayed on as head of Fidesz, now Hungary's largest opposition party.

So: congratulations from a man who no longer signs anything in Budapest, addressed to a party that has spent years at odds with the West. Is this loyalty, or a network of political friends who stick together even after they lose power? The Balkans learned long ago that friendships between leaders often outlast their mandates.

The question remains how much Budapest's support weighs when it's no longer backed by the Hungarian government but by an opposition party. When a friend has lost his seat, what is his "grand slam" worth?