Russia Expels Hungarian Diplomats in Retaliatory Tit-for-Tat Move
Russia ordered Hungarian diplomats to leave the country within two weeks following Hungary's September expulsion of 10 Russian diplomats suspected of espionage.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation ordered a group of Hungarian diplomats to leave Russia within two weeks on October 1, 2026. The retaliatory action follows a September 8 decision by Hungary to expel 10 Russian diplomats from the embassy in Budapest. Russian officials summoned Hungarian chargé d'affaires Gábor Gergics to lodge a protest against what they termed an unfounded and unfriendly demand.
The expelled Hungarian personnel include staff from the embassy in Moscow and the consulates general in St. Petersburg and Kazan. Hungarian Foreign Minister Anita Orban previously justified the September expulsions by stating the Russian diplomats engaged in activities "unacceptable for diplomats under the Vienna Convention," a phrase typically associated with espionage.
This diplomatic clash coincides with a broader policy shift under Prime Minister Péter Magyar, who took office in May after defeating Viktor Orbán. Magyar has aligned Hungary more closely with NATO and the European Union, condemned Russian military aggression, and stopped blocking EU loans to Ukraine. While the Hungarian Foreign Ministry stated it is "not interested in an escalation of diplomatic tension" and wishes to maintain dialogue due to energy dependencies, the exchange of expulsions signals a sharp deterioration in relations between Moscow and Budapest.
