Armenia Snubs Hungary’s Fresh Request For Restored Ties

ARMENIA SNUBS HUNGARY’S FRESH REQUEST FOR RESTORED TIES

News | 26.09.12 | 19:54

Armenia has again refused to resume diplomatic relations with Hungary
that it suspended unilaterally last month over a controversial
extradition of an Azerbaijani killer by authorities in Budapest.

A note addressed to the Armenian Foreign Ministry by Hungarian
counterparts earlier this week says Budapest wants to have restored
diplomatic relations with Armenia “without preconditions”.

“The diplomatic note expresses the interest of the Government of
Hungary to end the unilateral suspension of diplomatic relations by
the Republic of Armenia without preconditions. The diplomatic note
is a formal answer to the communication in which Armenia informed
Hungary about the suspension of the diplomatic relations August 31,
2012,” says the statement posted on the Hungarian government’s website.

This is the second time official Budapest has sought renewed ties with
Yerevan after authorities in the South Caucasus state unilaterally
severed them on August 31, the day when Hungary handed over to
Azerbaijan Ramil Safarov, an Azerbaijani army officer who served
a life sentence in a Hungarian jail for killing an Armenian fellow
student during a NATO course in 2004.

Once at home Safarov was pardoned by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev
and promoted to the rank of a major. Besides angering Armenia, the
extradition and subsequent decisions in Azerbaijan also drew a wide
chorus of international criticism, including from leading Western
democracies and organizations.

In his comments to the state-run news agency Armenpress on Wednesday
Armenian Foreign Ministry spokesman Tigran Balayan in essence repeated
the position that official Yerevan already expressed earlier this
month.

The Armenian side’s position remains unchanged, said Balayan. Armenia
expects ‘practical steps’ from Hungary, the spokesman added without
elaborating.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress