Hungary has ordered 10 Russian diplomats to leave Budapest, accusing them of engaging in "unacceptable" activities incompatible with their diplomatic status.

Hungarian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Anita Orban announced the decision on Tuesday. "This decision protects Hungary's security and sovereignty," she wrote on social media, without providing further details.

Orban stressed that the expulsion "does not imply breaking off diplomatic relations with Russia."

Russia's Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told the TASS news agency that "the response to the Russophobic lobby will be harsh and painful." Russia's Ambassador to Budapest, Evgeny Stanislavov, called Hungary's move "an unprecedented and ungrounded escalation," saying Budapest's earlier promise of pragmatic cooperation was worth "absolutely nothing."

The EU described the expulsion as a "legitimate decision." EU spokesman Christian Wigand told journalists that the bloc "will continue to closely coordinate" on the situation.

Hungary was long considered one of Russia's closest allies within the European Union. Under former Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who lost elections last April after 16 years in power, Budapest maintained warm relations with Moscow, partly citing cheap Russian oil imports. Viktor Orban repeatedly objected to EU aid for Ukraine and delayed sanctions packages against Russia. He is not related to current Foreign Minister Anita Orban.

The new government, led by Prime Minister Peter Magyar of the Tisza party, has moved sharply away from that stance since taking office following the April elections. Magyar had promised "pragmatic" relations with Moscow from the outset, while both he and the foreign minister have called on Russia to end the war in Ukraine.

Last month, Magyar formally broke with the previous government's policies. New official guidelines stated that Russia's conduct in Ukraine "poses a threat to Hungary, Europe and the global order, and also puts the Hungarian minority living in Transcarpathia in serious danger."

In May, Anita Orban summoned the Russian ambassador to protest a large drone attack on Ukraine's Transcarpathia region, which is home to a significant Hungarian minority. Commentators noted that her predecessor had not summoned the ambassador at any point since Russia's full-scale invasion began in 2022.

Many EU member states expelled Russian diplomats following Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Hungary was not among them until now.

Ahead of the April elections, an independent Russian investigative outlet reported that 15 of the 47 Russian embassy staff in Budapest were linked to Russian intelligence agencies, with six more potentially connected. Former Hungarian foreign intelligence deputy head Andras Telkes said that while "Russian spying activity" had been investigated before the election, the previous Fidesz government had prevented any action from being taken.

The Russian embassy in Budapest had previously rejected as false a report alleging that three Russian military intelligence officers had travelled to Budapest to influence the Hungarian vote. Russia has routinely denied that its embassies are used for espionage.

Telkes warned that Moscow's response could have significant consequences. "If 10 Hungarian diplomats were to be expelled from Moscow, in a tit-for-tat move, that would effectively close the Hungarian embassy there," he said.

Hundreds of Russian diplomats have been expelled across Europe since 2022, with Russia responding in kind on each occasion.