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The official representative of the Hungarian National Assembly confirmed to Panorama.am the reports about the ratification of the EU-Armenia Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement (CEPA).

In a written request of Panorama.am to verify the corresponding report, Advisor at the National Assembly Committee on Foreign Affairs Csizi Réka provided the following response: “I can confirm that the Hungarian Parliament has ratified the Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement between the European Union and the Republic of Armenia, which was published in the Official Journal of Hungary No: 51 (Magyar Közlöny) on the 27 March 2019.”

To add, Hungary’s ratification of CEPA was a topic of concern in political circles in the light of diplomatic rift when Armenia severed relations with Hungary following the extradition of Ramil Safarov – convicted of murdering Armenian Lieutenant Gurgen Margaryan in Hungary in 2004 – to Azerbaijan in exchange for a $7 million dollar bribe.

Safarov was pardoned upon returning to Azerbaijan. Relatives of the murdered officer sued Hungary and Azerbaijan for violating Articles 2 (right to life) and 14 (prohibition against discrimination) of the European Convention on Human Rights. Hungary’s decision to extradite Safarov was widely slammed by international community.

The EU and Armenia signed the new deal on the sidelines of the EU Eastern Partnership Summit in November 2017. The agreement was provisionally applied on June 1 in the following year. Apart from Hungary, the Agreement has fully been ratified by the UK, Bulgaria, Denmark, Estonia, Lithuania Luxemburg, Latvia, Malta, Romania, Germany and Poland.