On September 8, Hungary’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs ordered ten employees of the Russian diplomatic mission to leave the country. Hungarian Foreign Minister Anita Orban explained that they had engaged in “activities unacceptable for diplomats under the Vienna Convention.”
It is worth noting that Hungary had never before expelled so many Russian diplomats at once. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has already promised that the “response to the Russophobic lobby in Budapest will be tough and painful.” Therefore, this should not be viewed as an ordinary spat between former “friends.” There is much more to it.
The End of “Special Relations”
The policy of the Hungarian government led by Peter Magyar differs significantly from that of the previous government under Viktor Orban. This also applies to Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto. But along with the end of the “puppet mouse” era, the Kremlin appears to have lost not only Orban (or simply “its” Budapest), but also its levers of influence over the European Union as a whole. It all happened gradually.
In August, Hungary officially declared Russia a threat to the country, Europe, and the global order for the first time, condemned Russia’s military aggression against Ukraine, and supported Ukraine’s sovereignty, territorial integrity, and right to self-defense. In July, Hungarian Defense Minister Romulusz Ruszin-Szendi accused Russian intelligence of attempting to infiltrate EU countries “through the back door” and pledged to “close the door to Russians,” stressing that national security and NATO membership “allow for no compromises.” In September, this warning took concrete form, sending a signal to EU and NATO partners: the new Budapest wants to once again be part of the common security system rather than remain Moscow’s “back door.”
