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The Belgian magazine Knack has commented on Safarov case in an article titled “The man with the axe.”

The Azeri killed an Armenian fellow-student with an axe in 2004 in Budapest. He said then that the memories of Azerbaijan’s sufferings during the war with Armenia made him so angry, that Gurgen Margaryan had to die, says the article.

Safarov was convicted to life imprisonment in Hungary which would normally costhim at least 25 years in prison. However, on 31 August Hungary sent him home on the condition, so the Hungarians are claiming, that he would serve the rest of his prison term in Azerbaijan. He was received in Baku as a hero. He was released and received a promotion.

Armenia is furious, says the magazine, because in exchange for a lot of money Hungary let an Azeri go who killed an Armenian fellow-student. The arrival of Ramil Safarov in Baku caused the biggest diplomatic scandal in the region in the last decade. Armenia severed diplomatic ties with Hungary. Armenia could backfire by recognizing the independence of Nagorno-Karabakh. That would be a setback in the peace process which is already dying. The United States say that it will ask for an explanation from Hungary and Azerbaijan. Russia, the ally and protector of Armenia, expressed its “deep concern.”

Knack writes that the Hungarian media and opposition believe that a dirty deal was concluded behind the scenes. It is claimed that the oil-rich Azerbaijan has promised to buy Hungarian state obligations for 3bn euros in exchange for Ramil Safarov. The prime minister Viktor Orban visited Azerbaijan in June. Opposition leader and ex-prime minister Ferenc Gyurcsany said that during his term he rejected an offer from the Azeris. He accused Orban in selling the honour of Hungary for a handful of silver coins.

According the magazine, the Hungarian diplomacy in general has an excellent reputation. The same cannot be said about the current political leadership of the country. It seems that the exchange of Safarov was engineered by Orban himself together with his minister for External Economic Relations, Peter Szijjarto.