New York Times
Aug 31 2012
Armenia: Dispute Darkens Relations With Hungary
By REUTERS
Published: August 31, 2012
Armenia said it was suspending diplomatic relations with Hungary on
Friday because Hungary had allowed a soldier from Azerbaijan who
killed an Armenian officer in 2004 to return home, where he was
immediately pardoned and freed. The dispute erupted after Azerbaijan’s
president, Ilham Aliyev, pardoned the soldier, Ramil Safarov, who had
been sentenced to life in prison for the 2004 killing of an Armenian
officer during NATO training in Hungary. Hungary agreed to return Mr.
Safarov to Azerbaijan after it had received assurances that he would
serve out his sentence. Armenia and Azerbaijan have been at odds since
a war between ethnic Azeris and Armenians erupted in 1991 over the
mainly Armenian Nagorno-Karabakh enclave. Hungary has been developing
economic ties with energy-rich Azerbaijan.