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Hungarian deputy foreign minister Zsolt Nemeth on Sunday summoned Azerbaijan's ambassador to Hungary Vilayat Guliyev to voice the government's displeasure over the release of Ramil Safarov, an Azeri soldier sentenced to life imprisonment for killing Armenian Army lieutenant Gurgen Margaryan in Budapest in 2004 in Hungary, BBC reported.

Hungary turned Safarov over to Azeri custody on Friday after receiving assurances that he would serve out the remaining portion of his sentence, only to see Safarov receive a hero's welcome, an immediate presidential pardon, promotion to the rank of major and, allegedly, eight years of back pay for the time spent in a Hungarian prison.

Nemeth called the presidential pardon unacceptable and condemnable.

Armenia has broken off diplomatic relations with Hungary over the incident.

Nemeth presented Guliyev with a written protest from his foreign ministry, underlining the Hungarian government's shock over the amnesty, Xinhua reported.

Meanwhile, Hungarian officials continue to stress that they had acted in accordance with the Council of Europe's extradition accord in 1983 after Safarov's legal representative asked that his client serve out his sentence in his home country.