Armenia–Hungary relations refer to

bilateral relations Bilateralism is the conduct of political, economic, or cultural relations between two sovereign states. It is in contrast to unilateralism or multilateralism, which is activity by a single state or jointly by multiple states, respectively. When ...

between

Armenia Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ''Ox ...

and

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...

. Armenia is represented in Hungary through its

embassy A diplomatic mission or foreign mission is a group of people from a state or organization present in another state to represent the sending state or organization officially in the receiving or host state. In practice, the phrase usually deno ...

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

, and an

honorary consulate A consul is an official representative of the government of one state in the territory of another, normally acting to assist and protect the citizens of the consul's own country, as well as to facilitate trade and friendship between the people ...

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...

, Hungary. Hungary is represented in Armenia through its embassy in

Tbilisi Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), is the Capital city, capital and the List of cities and towns in Georgia (country), largest city of Georgia (country), Georgia, lying on the ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

, and an honorary consulate in

Yerevan Yerevan ( , , hy, Երևան , sometimes spelled Erevan) is the capital and largest city of Armenia and one of the world's List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest continuously inhabited cities. Situated along the Hrazdan River, Y ...

, Armenia.

Background

Since the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, the two countries were under communist domination as both Hungary (

Hungarian People's Republic The Hungarian People's Republic ( hu, Magyar Népköztársaság) was a one-party socialist state from 20 August 1949 to 23 October 1989. It was governed by the Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party, which was under the influence of the Soviet Uni ...

) and Armenia (

Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic The Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic,; russian: Армянская Советская Социалистическая Республика, translit=Armyanskaya Sovetskaya Sotsialisticheskaya Respublika) also commonly referred to as Soviet A ...

) was a satellite state and the constituent republic of the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

respectively. Diplomatic relations between the two nations started at the end of the

Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...

, mainly with the

dissolution of the Soviet Union The dissolution of the Soviet Union, also negatively connoted as rus, Разва́л Сове́тского Сою́за, r=Razvál Sovétskogo Soyúza, ''Ruining of the Soviet Union''. was the process of internal disintegration within the Sov ...

in 1991. There are around 15,000 people of Armenian descent living in Hungary.

Severing of diplomatic relations

On 31 August 2012, Armenia severed relations with Hungary following the

extradition Extradition is an action wherein one jurisdiction delivers a person accused or convicted of committing a crime in another jurisdiction, over to the other's law enforcement. It is a cooperative law enforcement procedure between the two jurisdict ...

Ramil Safarov Ramil Sahib oghlu Safarov ( az, Ramil Sahib oğlu Səfərov, , born August 25, 1977) is an officer of the Azerbaijani Army who was convicted of the 2004 murder of Armenian Army Lieutenant Gurgen Margaryan. During a NATO-sponsored training semi ...

– convicted of murdering Armenian Lieutenant

Gurgen Margaryan On 19 February 2004, Gurgen Margaryan ( hy, Գուրգեն Մարգարյան; 26 September 1978 – 19 February 2004), a lieutenant in the Armenian army, was murdered in Budapest, Hungary, by Ramil Safarov, a lieutenant in the Azerbaijani army. ...

in Hungary in 2004. Also rumors spread this was carried out in exchange for a $7 million bribe.''Report: Azerbaijani Laundromat May Have Helped Secure Ax-Murderer Ramil Safarov's Extradition''
The Armenian Weekly, 7 September 2017 (status November 2020: accessible)Paul Radu, Khadija Ismayilova, Tamas Bodoky,Leyla Avshar
''Azerbaijan's High-Profile Beneficiaries''
Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), 5 September 2017 (status November 2020: accessible) Safarov was

pardon A pardon is a government decision to allow a person to be relieved of some or all of the legal consequences resulting from a criminal conviction. A pardon may be granted before or after conviction for the crime, depending on the laws of the ju ...

ed upon returning to Azerbaijan, and was treated as a national hero: Safarov was promoted to the military rank of major, received an apartment, and was given back pay for his 8 years of imprisonment. Relatives of the murdered officer sued Hungary and Azerbaijan for violating Articles 2 (right to life) and 14 (prohibition against discrimination) of the

European Convention on Human Rights The European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR; formally the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms) is an international convention to protect human rights and political freedoms in Europe. Drafted in 1950 by t ...

European Court of Human Rights The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR or ECtHR), also known as the Strasbourg Court, is an international court of the Council of Europe which interprets the European Convention on Human Rights. The court hears applications alleging that a ...

recognized governments of Hungary and Azerbaijan as respondents in this case. In Yerevan, protesters threw tomatoes at the building of Hungary's honorary consulate and tore down the

flag of Hungary The national flag of Hungary ( hu, Magyarország zászlaja) is a horizontal tricolour of red, white and green (red-white-green). In this exact form, it has been the official flag of Hungary since 23 May 1957. The flag's form originates from nati ...

. The United States also criticised the decision to free Safarov. In April 2013, Armenia's acting Foreign Minister

Eduard Nalbandyan Eduard Aghvani Nalbandian ( hy, Էդվարդ Աղվանի Նալբանդյան; born July 16, 1956) is an Armenian diplomat who served as Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia from April 2008 to May 2018. Biography Edward Nalbandian was born i ...

said that "Armenia asready to settle relations with Hungary, but Budapest should undertake steps".

Restoration of diplomatic relations

On 1 December 2022, nearly 10 years after the severing of diplomatic relations, Armenia and Hungary agreed to restore diplomatic relations and appoint non-resident ambassadors. This decision came as a result of negotiations within the framework of the OSCE Ministerial Council in Łódź, Poland.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Armenia-Hungary relations

Bilateral relations of Hungary

Background

Severing of diplomatic relations

Restoration of diplomatic relations

See also

References