About 12 years later, Armenia and Hungary will restore diplomatic relations
On November 28, as part of the government’s non-reported agenda, a decision was made to open an Armenian Embassy in Budapest, the capital of Hungary. The first steps toward normalizing relations between the two countries were taken in 2022 during a meeting between their foreign ministers. At that time, an agreement was reached to fully restore diplomatic relations.
In May 2023, Hungary’s Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary presented his credentials to Armenia’s President Vahagn Khachaturyan. In June, Armenia’s Ambassador to Hungary, Ashot Smbatyan (whose residence is in Tbilisi), presented his credentials to Hungary’s President Katalin Novák.
Diplomatic relations between the two countries were suspended in 2012. Armenia’s National Security Council had decided to halt the operations of the Armenian Embassy in Hungary after Hungary extradited Ramil Safarov to Azerbaijan. The latter had axed Armenian officer Gurgen Margaryan and spent 8 years in a Hungarian prison before his extradition in 2012.