BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Hungary ordered 10 members of Russia’s diplomatic mission to leave the country over activities deemed unacceptable for diplomats, the government said Tuesday, and Russia said that it planned to respond.
The Russian ambassador was informed that “according to the assessment of the Hungarian authorities, 10 members of the Russian mission had engaged in activities in Hungary that are unacceptable for diplomats under the Vienna Convention,” Foreign Minister Anita Orbán said.
That is a reference to an international treaty that governs the conduct of diplomats.
The foreign minister, who isn't related to former Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, didn't specify the alleged activities or say how long the Russian personnel had to leave Hungary, but stressed that her country seeks to maintain diplomatic contacts with Moscow.
“This decision protects Hungary’s security and sovereignty,” Orbán wrote in a statement. “It does not imply breaking off diplomatic relations with Russia. Hungary intends to continue the necessary dialogue, based on mutual respect and adherence to the rules.”
The Russian Foreign Ministry, in comments to Russia’s state news agency RIA Novosti, vowed to provide “an appropriate response” to the expulsions. It didn't elaborate.
Hungary's move comes under Prime Minister Peter Magyar, who took office earlier this year promising to end the country’s pro-Russia policies.
Magyar's predecessor, Viktor Orbán, was an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin who repeatedly delayed or blocked European Union sanctions on Russia and pursued energy deals with Russia.
European Commission spokesperson Christian Wigand said Tuesday that “we take note of Hungary’s legitimate decision” to expel the Russian diplomats. He said it was an expected reaction due to “Russia’s persistent campaign in using hybrid attacks against the EU and its member states.”
FILE - Russia's ambassador to Hungary, Evgeny Stanislavov, is surrounded by media as he leaves the Hungarian Foreign Ministry building, in Budapest, Thursday, May 14, 2026. (AP Photo, File)
LONDON (AP) — Britain is set to ban goods from Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank in response to an expansion program that is imperiling efforts to establish a Palestinian state, the U.K. government said Tuesday.
Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband is due to give details in the House of Commons later, after saying last week that he would “reset” U.K. relations with Israel.
It's a significant toughening of Britain’s stance towards Israel, whose conduct towards the Palestinians under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has increasingly been criticized by the U.K. and other Israeli allies. Under Netanyahu's ultranationalist government, settlement construction in the West Bank has surged.
The international community overwhelmingly considers such construction to be illegal and an obstacle to peace.
Before the announcement, Work and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden said that it “isn’t intended to be a boycott of all Israeli goods.”
He said that the measures were “specifically targeted at the expansion of these settlements, which are illegal under international law, in the West Bank.”
“At the heart of the statement is the idea that the U.K., along with many other countries, do not want to see the possibility of a two-state solution in Israel and Palestine being erased by changes to the facts on the ground,” McFadden told Times Radio.
The United Kingdom, a longtime ally of Israel, recognized Palestinian statehood last year in an attempt to revive dwindling efforts to achieve a two-state solution.
The center-left Labour Party government has previously sanctioned some Israeli settlers and illegal outposts over violence against Palestinians and illegal development in the West Bank. Tuesday's announcement is set to expand sanctions to cover trade in goods, and possibly some services, with all West Bank settlements.
U.K. Prime Minister Andy Burnham has voiced concerns about the E1 settlement project approved by Israel, which would effectively cut the territory in two. Palestinians and rights groups say it could destroy hopes for a future Palestinian state.
A tougher line on settlements is likely to be welcomed by many Labour voters and lawmakers, who have urged the government to go further in sanctioning Israel and supporting the Palestinians.
But some Labour members expressed concern that the move could boost support for Netanyahu, who is facing a tough battle for reelection in October, or lead to attacks on British Jews.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog said the ban would be “a grave miscalculation, a decision that will fall on the wrong side of history.
“In the current context, it would be a gross interference in the democratic elections of a sovereign nation,” he said.
Senior Israeli ministers condemned the U.K. government’s impending announcement. Foreign Minister Gideon Saar warned that “if Britain acts against Israel, Israel will act against Britain.”
Itamar Ben-Gvir, Israel’s hard-line public security minister, called on Netanyahu to recognize Argentina’s claim to the Falkland Islands, a British overseas territory in the South Atlantic known in Argentina as Islas Malvinas.
The move was also criticized by the U.S. ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, who said that it was “discrimination against the Jewish people.” He said that the U.K. could face “repercussions or retaliations” from the U.S. if it imposed the sanctions.
Several U.S. states have laws banning contracts or investments with businesses that boycott Israeli firms, including those based in the West Bank. U.S. Rep. Randy Fines, R-Fla., said in a post on social media that the U.K. ban could put at risk “billions of dollars” in trade between British businesses and Florida.
Burnham’s office said that the prime minister spoke to U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday and set out “the U.K.’s commitment to working toward peace and security in the region” and achieving a two-state solution. There was no word on how Trump responded.
Israel seized the West Bank in the 1967 Mideast war and which would make up the main part of a future Palestinian state.
Netanyahu’s government views the West Bank as the biblical and historical homeland of the Jewish people and is opposed to the creation of a Palestinian state
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Megan Mineiro contributed to this report from Jerusalem.
FILE - Britain's Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband speaks during a press conference in Madrid, Spain, on July 29, 2026. (Leon Neal/Pool Photo via AP, File)
