Hungary has ordered 10 employees of the Russian Embassy in Budapest to leave the country, saying their activities were incompatible with the conduct expected of diplomats under the Vienna Convention. A spokesperson for the Russian Foreign Ministry said Budapest should expect a “harsh and painful response”.

FM Orbán announces letting go of 10 embassy employees

Foreign Minister Anita Orbán announced the decision, describing it as unprecedented in scale. She said the relevant official at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had informed Russia’s ambassador to Budapest of the decision on her instructions. According to Orbán, the Hungarian authorities assessed that the 10 representatives had engaged in activities that were not acceptable for diplomats under the Vienna Convention.

“The decision protects Hungary’s security and sovereignty,” the minister said. She stressed, however, that the move does not mean a break in diplomatic relations with the Kremlin. Hungary intends to maintain the necessary dialogue with Moscow, provided that both sides respect one another and comply with international rules.

UPDATE: Russia’s threat

Russia will respond to Hungary’s expulsion of ten Russian diplomats, according to the Russian state news agency TASS, citing a statement from the Russian Foreign Ministry. Maria Zakharova, spokesperson for the Russian Foreign Ministry, promised a “harsh and painful response.”

“The response to the Russophobic lobby in Budapest will be harsh and painful,” she told TASS.

A tougher approach towards Moscow

The expulsions mark a notably tougher public response towards Russian diplomatic activity than previous measures taken by Hungary. Péter Magyar also raised the announcement in Parliament, reading out Orbán’s statement and saying that a Tisza government would protect Hungary’s sovereignty, reports Telex.

Anita Orbán has adopted a more distant diplomatic approach towards Russia than her predecessor, Péter Szijjártó, according to the supplied sources. On 13 May, shortly after taking office, she summoned Russia’s ambassador following a Russian drone attack against Transcarpathia. Szijjártó had last summoned a Russian diplomat in February 2022. The latest move also follows reports of a quieter expulsion of a Russian intelligence officer earlier this year.

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Kremlin intelligence officer reportedly expelled in May

VSquare reported in May that Artur Sushkov, allegedly a Russian intelligence officer operating under diplomatic cover at the Embassy in Budapest, left Hungary on 4 May. According to the report, Hungary’s Constitutional Protection Office had established that Sushkov had spent years collecting information on institutions close to the Hungarian government. VSquare’s government sources claimed that Hungarian intelligence had recommended his expulsion as early as February, but that the previous Orbán government had blocked the proposal.

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2018 Skripal case provides a different precedent

Hungary also expelled a Russian diplomat in 2018 following the poisoning of former Kremlin intelligence officer Sergei Skripal in Britain. However, a subsequent Direkt36 investigation suggested that Budapest deliberately handled the expulsion in a way that would minimise damage to its close relationship with Moscow.

Diplomatic sources reportedly said the expelled Russian was a GRU military intelligence officer whose posting was due to end within months. The latest decision is considerably larger in scale, as the 10 embassy employees have now been ordered to leave Hungary. Despite this, Budapest insists that diplomatic relations with Moscow will continue, with the government presenting the expulsions as a measure to protect Hungary’s security and sovereignty rather than a move towards severing ties with Russia.

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