Just hours after Foreign Minister Anita Orbán announced the expulsion of ten Russian diplomats, Maria Zakharova, spokesperson for the Russian Foreign Ministry, reacted to the incident. According to her exact statement, "the response to the Russophobic lobby in Budapest will be harsh and painful." Zakharova did not specify any concrete countermeasures.
The Ambassador Also Weighs In
Yevgeny Stanislavov, Russia's ambassador to Budapest who has been in office since 2021, also issued a statement on the embassy's official Telegram channel. According to the ambassador, Anita Orbán's announcement is "proof that the new Hungarian leadership has fallen captive to ideologized anti-Russian phobias," and that the Hungarian side's previous statements about keeping channels of dialogue open and continuing pragmatic cooperation "are worth absolutely nothing." The ambassador called the expulsion an "extremely unfriendly step" and an "unprecedented, unfounded escalation," adding that—as he put it—"a fitting response will be forthcoming."
Konstantin Kosachev, Deputy Speaker of the Federation Council (the upper house of the Russian parliament), also commented on the matter. He stated that "Hungarian taxpayers will have to foot the bill"—implying, in his interpretation, that Hungary made the decision under pressure from the European Union or NATO and against its own national interests.