Professor Péter Balázs, director of the CEU Center of EU Enlargement Studies (CENS) and former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Hungary, gave an interview for ATV Start about the extradition of Ramil Safarov, the Azeri soldier who murdered the Armenian Gurgen Margaryan in 2004 during a training organized in the framework of the NATO Partnership for Peace Program in Budapest.

Upon his arrival to Azerbaijan, Safarov was granted presidential mercy which provoked Serzh Sargsyan, the President of Armenia, to suspend all diplomatic relations with Hungary.

Talking about the legal aspect of the case, Professor Balázs emphasized that the letter the Hungarian Ministry of Public Administration and Justice had received from its Azeri counterpart contained no guarantees that Safarov would remain in prison; it simply described the relevant legislation of Azerbaijan without any reference to the case in question. Concerning the political aspects, he noted that it had to be clear for the Hungarian party what consequences the extradition of Safarov could have. Given the sensitivity of the issue the extradition could have happened only if Hungary had received clear guarantees from Azerbaijan that Safarov would remain in prison and only after informing Armenia about the matter. Professor Balazs concluded that Hungary actively interfered in a severe regional conflict – a move which rightly concerns major international actors.

The interview is available online in Hungarian:

http://atv.hu/videotar/20120903_magyarorszag_kiadta_az_azeri_baltas_gyilkost