ungary has not much else it can do to help restore diplomatic ties with Armenia, Gabor Kaleta, press chief at the Foreign Ministry, told MTI on Wednesday.
Foreign Minister Janos Martonyi has written a letter to his Armenian colleague, the ministry issued a note, “there is not much else we can do now,” he said.
The ministry told the Armenian Foreign Ministry in a note that the Hungarian government had a vested interest in Armenia putting an end to the suspension of diplomatic relations without any preconditions.
The Monday note, cited by news website hvg.hu on Wednesday, was a response to the Armenian Foreign Ministry’s August 31 note on the suspension of diplomatic relations.
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Commenting on the Hungarian note, Armenian foreign affairs spokesman Tigran Balayan told the Armenpress news agency: “The Armenian position has remained unchanged. As declared previously, Armenia expects practical steps from Hungary.”
Kaleta said Hungary wished to use primarily diplomatic channels in its communications with Armenia and is determined to make the suspension of diplomatic ties come to an end. However he said that as regards restoring diplomatic relations “there is no room for any kind of preconditions”.
Hungary said from the start that the transfer of the Azerbaijani officer had not been directed against Armenia but was “an issue of international law.” He added that Hungary respects the Christian country of Armenia and the Armenian minority living in Hungary, on whom the ministry counted in helping to resolve the situation.
Armenia decided to suspend diplomatic ties with Hungary on August 31, just after the Hungarian authorities repatriated Azerbaijani national Ramil Safarov on the understanding that he would continue to serve the life sentence he received in February 2004 for murdering an Armenian in Hungary.