Hungarian Foreign Minister Anita Orbán has announced that in order to protect the country’s security and sovereignty, an order has been issued to expel ten Russian diplomats, writes Politico.
The decision comes several months after the Russian investigative journalism publication Agenstvo reported that almost a third of the 47 employees of the Russian embassy in Budapest are connected to Russian intelligence services.
Orbán (the minister is not related to the former Hungarian prime minister) indicated that Russian diplomats in Hungary had taken actions that, according to the Vienna Convention, are unacceptable. The Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations is an international agreement that sets out the basic principles of diplomatic relations.
Hungarian Prime Minister Péter Magyar said that the Russian diplomats had taken unacceptable actions, although neither he nor Orbán specified what exactly they had done. The Hungarian Foreign Ministry also declined to comment further. Orbán only added that the expulsions did not indicate a break in diplomatic ties with Russia.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Moscow’s response would be “harsh and painful.”
The Hungarian leader has sought to sever ties with Moscow since taking office in May, replacing Viktor Orbán, in sharp contrast to the previous prime minister’s friendly and comfortable relations with the Kremlin. In July, Hungarian authorities opened an investigation into former foreign minister Péter Szijjártó over allegations that Szijjártó had passed sensitive information to Russian officials.
In August, the Hungarian government, briefing its delegation to the UN General Assembly, declared that Russia was a threat to Hungary, Europe and the international order.
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