Armenia cuts diplomatic ties with Hungary over freed prisoner

Armenia has broken off diplomatic ties with Hungary over its decision to send home an Azeri army officer convicted of murdering an Armenian soldier.

Gurgen Markarian was killed with an axe by Ramil Saforov when they were both undergoing NATO training in Hungary. Saforov was given a life sentence but was this week flown to his home country where he was released.

Hungarian authorities said they had received assurances from Azerbaijian that he would serve out his jail term there. During Saforov’s trial, he said that nationalist insults were at the root of the crime.

Azerbaijian and Armenia, both former Soviet republics, fought a war in the early 90s over the enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh. Armenian-backed authorities currently control the area following a 1994 ceasefire, but relations between the two countries have remained tense since then.

Copyright © 2013 euronews