Hungary has ordered 10 members of Russia’s diplomatic mission to leave the country, the most consequential personnel move yet in Budapest’s rapidly changing relationship with Moscow. Foreign Minister Anita Orbán announced the decision on 8 September, saying Hungarian authorities had judged the officials’ activities unacceptable and incompatible with diplomatic status.
The government did not identify the diplomats, disclose their jobs or set out the specific conduct behind the decision. It also did not publish a precise deadline for all 10 to depart. That distinction matters: Budapest has not publicly accused every individual of a defined intelligence operation, and the available statement should not be stretched beyond its wording.
Diplomatic law gives governments broad room to act in such cases. Article 9 of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations allows a receiving state to declare a diplomat persona non grata at any time and without having to explain the decision. The sending state must then recall the individual or terminate that person’s functions at the mission.
Moscow has already promised a response. Russia’s Foreign Ministry said retaliatory measures would follow. Reuters, citing Interfax, reported that the Russian side described the coming response as painful for Hungary. No details have yet been announced, leaving open whether Moscow will opt for a straightforward reciprocal expulsion or seek a wider form of pressure.
The strategic significance lies in who is making the decision. Péter Magyar became prime minister on 9 May after Hungary’s 12 April parliamentary election, and Anita Orbán took over the foreign ministry on 12 May. The incoming government presented its foreign policy as a re-anchoring of Hungary in the European Union and NATO, coupled with an effort to reduce one-sided dependence on Russia.
Before taking office, Anita Orbán argued for a more transparent relationship with Moscow and described Russia as the aggressor and Ukraine as the victim of aggression. That language marked a sharp departure from the political framework associated with former prime minister Viktor Orbán, whose government had maintained unusually pragmatic ties with Russia inside the EU.
Reuters reports that Viktor Orbán’s government did not publicly expel Russian diplomats after Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The last publicly announced expulsion before the change of government dated to 2018. In May 2026, the new administration expelled one Russian diplomat over suspected intelligence activity, providing an early indication that diplomatic security would be treated differently.
The latest action is much larger. Removing 10 officials reduces Russian diplomatic capacity in Hungary and signals that the new government is prepared to impose costs while preserving state-to-state communication. Anita Orbán stressed that the decision does not amount to breaking diplomatic relations and that necessary dialogue with Russia will continue under rules Budapest considers consistent with its sovereignty and security.
That dual approach is important for the broader European system. Hungary’s previous Russia policy often created friction inside EU and NATO decision-making. A Budapest that converges more closely with allied assessments of Russian security activity could narrow one of the alliance’s internal gaps without eliminating Hungary’s national interests or all of its disagreements with partners.
The next phase will depend on Russia’s choice of retaliation. A symmetrical expulsion would constrain both missions but keep the confrontation inside a familiar diplomatic framework. A broader response would indicate that Moscow sees the Hungarian shift not merely as a staffing dispute, but as a strategic loss of influence within a country that had long served as an unusually open channel inside Western institutions.