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HUNGARY HANDED OVER AZERI KILLER AWARE OF BACKLASH RISKS -PM
Chicago Tribune
Sept 11 2012
IL
BUDAPEST, Sept 11 (Reuters) - Hungary knew its decision to hand
convicted killer Ramil Safarov over to his native Azerbaijan would
spark a diplomatic backlash from Armenia, Hungarian Prime Minister
Viktor Orban said on Tuesday.
Budapest released Safarov, a soldier, to Azerbaijan last month where
Azeri President Ilham Aliyev pardoned him on arrival. Safarov had
served eight years of a life sentence for killing an Armenian officer
during a NATO-sponsored training session in Hungary in 2004.
Armenia immediately broke diplomatic ties with Hungary and said that
releasing Safarov, who was given a hero's welcome on his return,
was a "grave mistake".
Orban was asked at a news conference about a report by news portal
origo.hu, which said the prime minister had taken the decision despite
being warned about the risks of such a move.
"There was coordination within the entire government about this,"
Orban said. "Each ministry presented its opinion, the justice ministry
about the legal side and the foreign ministry about the diplomatic
consequences."
Orban said he had then announced the decision personally in line with
general procedure.
"The foreign ministry had forecast precisely what types of consequences
this or the other decision may have. Nothing happened after our
decision that we would not have reckoned with in advance," he added.
Hungary has said its actions were consistent with international law
and that Azerbaijan had promised to uphold Safarov's sentence.
While the two countries were in talks about developing closer economic
ties, these were in no way linked to the release of the soldier,
the Hungarian government has said.
Armenia and Azerbaijan have been at odds since a war between ethnic
Azeris and Armenians that erupted in 1991 over the mainly Armenian
Nagorno-Karabakh enclave. A ceasefire was signed in 1994 but new
cross-border clashes this year have raised fears of a resumption
of fighting.
(Reporting by Gergely Szakacs; Editing by Andrew Osborn)
http://www.chicagotribune.com/sns-rt-hungary-azerbaijanl5e8kbic5-20120911,0,3824180,full.story
Chicago Tribune
Sept 11 2012
IL
BUDAPEST, Sept 11 (Reuters) - Hungary knew its decision to hand
convicted killer Ramil Safarov over to his native Azerbaijan would
spark a diplomatic backlash from Armenia, Hungarian Prime Minister
Viktor Orban said on Tuesday.
Budapest released Safarov, a soldier, to Azerbaijan last month where
Azeri President Ilham Aliyev pardoned him on arrival. Safarov had
served eight years of a life sentence for killing an Armenian officer
during a NATO-sponsored training session in Hungary in 2004.
Armenia immediately broke diplomatic ties with Hungary and said that
releasing Safarov, who was given a hero's welcome on his return,
was a "grave mistake".
Orban was asked at a news conference about a report by news portal
origo.hu, which said the prime minister had taken the decision despite
being warned about the risks of such a move.
"There was coordination within the entire government about this,"
Orban said. "Each ministry presented its opinion, the justice ministry
about the legal side and the foreign ministry about the diplomatic
consequences."
Orban said he had then announced the decision personally in line with
general procedure.
"The foreign ministry had forecast precisely what types of consequences
this or the other decision may have. Nothing happened after our
decision that we would not have reckoned with in advance," he added.
Hungary has said its actions were consistent with international law
and that Azerbaijan had promised to uphold Safarov's sentence.
While the two countries were in talks about developing closer economic
ties, these were in no way linked to the release of the soldier,
the Hungarian government has said.
Armenia and Azerbaijan have been at odds since a war between ethnic
Azeris and Armenians that erupted in 1991 over the mainly Armenian
Nagorno-Karabakh enclave. A ceasefire was signed in 1994 but new
cross-border clashes this year have raised fears of a resumption
of fighting.
(Reporting by Gergely Szakacs; Editing by Andrew Osborn)
http://www.chicagotribune.com/sns-rt-hungary-azerbaijanl5e8kbic5-20120911,0,3824180,full.story