Moral compass goes awry

„Azerbaijan and Hungary both have serious questions to answer about the case of Ramil Safarov, an Azeri military officer attending a NATO-run English-language course in Budapest, who murdered a sleeping fellow-student with an axe in 2004. But the most unpleasant consequences are for Brussels and Washington, DC. (...)

The Hungarian authorities have not explained convincingly why they last month let Safarov – one of their country's most controversial prisoners – go back to Azerbaijan. It is true that Azeri authorities requested this and that a Council of Europe framework for prisoner exchange permits it. But it does not mandate it. So the allegation that Hungary took this step in return for a large lump of Azeri money (some say €3 billion) deserves scrutiny. (...)

Hungary is not bulging with money. Indeed, its public finances feature gaping holes. But it too cocks a snook at Brussels (and Washington). Victor Orbán, the prime minister, makes his own decisions (often bad ones) and waits for the world to get used to them.”