Fearing arrest, Brazil’s Bolsonaro stayed two days in Hungarian embassy

Brazil’s far-right former President Jair Bolsonaro stayed for two nights at the Hungarian embassy in Brasilia last month, just days after federal police confiscated his passport and arrested two former aides on suspicion of plotting a coup, Bolsonaro’s lawyer said on Monday (25 March).

Bolsonaro’s 12-14 February stay at the Hungarian embassy was first reported by the New York Times based on security camera footage from inside the embassy.

The episode raises questions about the former president’s plans as he faces multiple criminal investigations in Brazil, with several members of his inner circle already in jail. Brazilian police would not be able to arrest a politician staying at a foreign embassy.

Bolsonaro’s lawyer Fabio Wajngarten said on social media that the ex-president spent two days housed in the Hungarian embassy “to maintain contact with officials of the friendly country” and “get updates on the political landscape of both nations”.

“Any other interpretations that go beyond the information provided here are clearly fictional, unrelated to the reality of the facts and are, in practice, just another piece of fake news,” Wajngarten wrote.

On Monday evening, Brazil’s foreign ministry summoned Hungary’s ambassador to clarify the reasons behind Bolsonaro’s stay at the embassy.

The Hungarian embassy did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The New York Times said Bolsonaro’s lawyer had declined to comment on their report, but a Hungarian embassy official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, confirmed the plan to host the former president.

Bolsonaro has good relations with fellow far-right leader, Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. Bolsonaro called Orbán his “brother” during a 2022 visit to Hungary and the two met this year in Buenos Aires during the inauguration of Argentina’s new right-wing President Javier Milei.

Police seized Bolsonaro’s passport on 8 February and accused him of editing a draft decree to overturn the results of the 2022 election, pressuring military chiefs to join a coup attempt and plotting to jail a Supreme Court justice.

Last year a Brazilian court ruled that Bolsonaro is ineligible for political office until 2030 for spreading electoral misinformation during the 2022 election.

Two weeks ago, the former heads of Brazil’s army and air force confirmed that Bolsonaro had discussed the draft decree to prevent the handover of power after the vote.

On March 19 federal police also accused him of fraud on his vaccination records, opening the door to criminal charges.

Sympathy for rogue politicians?

In the recent past Orbán’s Hungary has opened its doors to another rogue politician – former Prime Minister of North Macedonia Nikola Gruevski.

Gruevski was granted asylum in Hungary in November 2018 due to claims he was persecuted by the government of then-prime minister Zoran Zaev.

Wanted former Macedonian PM seeking asylum in Hungary

Macedonia’s former prime minister Nikola Gruevski, who has been sentenced to jail for abuse of power, said on Tuesday (13 November) he was in Hungary where he has requested political asylum.

Gruevski was prime minister and leader of the VMRO-DPMNE party from 2006 until January 2016, when he resigned. In May of that year, he was sentenced to two years in prison on charges of corruption, but instead of turning up to serve his sentence, he fled.

The rogue Macedonian politician is known for his pro-Serbian, pro-Russian, and anti-EU stance, and he is anti-the 2017 Friendship treaty signed with Bulgaria and the Prespa agreement signed with Greece in 2018.

(With additional content by Georgi Gotev)