Hungary blocking non-lethal military aid to Armenia over lack of support to Azerbaijan

Speaking about reports that Hungary is blocking €20 million ($22 million) in non-lethal military aid to Armenia from the EU’s European Peace Facility (EPF) mechanism, Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó explained that Hungary’s request to the EU was to provide a ‘similar amount’ in support to Azerbaijan.

The statement was made on Tuesday during a panel discussion at the Yerevan Dialogue Forum, organised by the Armenian Foreign Ministry.

Szijjártó’s announcement follows reporting by RFE/RL in April, which wrote, citing sources, that Hungary had been blocking the aid in order to request an equivalent amount for Azerbaijan.

Asked about Hungary blocking the EPF’s non-lethal aid to Armenia, Szijjártó stated that his country did not oppose providing Armenia with aid from the EPF. Instead, he argued that ‘in order to be balanced, and [for] the EU not to cause any kind of inconvenience in a very fragile situation’ — referring to the peace talks between Armenia and Azerbaijan, which are close to fruition — Hungary called for an equal amount of aid to Azerbaijan.

‘Our request was that the EU gives a similar amount of non-lethal support to Azerbaijan’, Szijjártó said, citing the decision in 2024 that allocated both countries with €10 million ($11 million) in aid.

Back then, Hungary reportedly agreed to lift its veto after a compromise that would see Azerbaijan receive similar funds from the EU to help with demining territories.

Armenia had previously applied for defensive assistance through the programme but was denied.

The EPF was created in 2021 and is a fund used by the EU to send military aid outside the bloc. Since its origin, the funds have been primarily sent to Ukraine.

In response to moderator Zbigniew Pisarski’s remarks that ‘Azerbaijan doesn’t want money’, allegedly specifically referring to money from the EPF fund, Szijjártó suggested that the funds could be provided from other sources.

Referring to a meeting with Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan earlier on Tuesday, Szijjártó said that during their ‘great conversation’, he made Hungary’s stance clear that they ‘are fine with the EPF support to Armenia, with a similar kind of support to Azerbaijan from any EU resource’.

‘Since it had already worked out once, it will work out now as well’, Szijjártó concluded.

Hungary reportedly blocking EU non-lethal military aid to Armenia, again

Hungary also initially blocked aid in 2024 before agreeing to withdraw its objection on the condition that aid also be sent to Azerbaijan.

OC MediaNate Ostiller

Relations between Armenia and Hungary have been strained for the better part of the past decade; Armenia suspended diplomatic relations with Hungary in 2012 after they released an Azerbaijani soldier who murdered an Armenian soldier with an axe during a NATO training programme in Budapest in 2004.

The two countries restored their diplomatic relations only in late 2022.

At the same time, Hungary has consistently had warmer relations with Azerbaijan, being one of the few EU countries to support Baku during the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War.

Aliyev and Orbán talk energy supply and relations in Budapest

The talks appear to have focused largely on Azerbaijan’s provision of energy to Hungary.

OC MediaYousef Bardouka