BRASILIA – The former president Jair Bolsonaro (PL) spent more time staying at Hungarian Embassyin February, than in meetings with authorities from the European country in the four years of his presidential term, between 2019 and 2022. Bolsonaro was in the Hungarian representation after having his passport withheld by the Federal police.
Between 2019 and 2022, according to official records on the Presidency of the Republic website, the former president had seven agendas with Hungarian authorities. Together, the meetings total just over 6 hours of activities, according to a survey carried out by Estadão. When contacted, Bolsonaro’s advisors did not respond.
Bolsonaro’s agendas with Hungarian representatives, including the country’s prime minister, Viktor Orbán, is less than the 42 hours that the former president spent at the Embassy. Bolsonaro was at the representation for two nights, days after being the target of a PF operation, which is investigating an attempted coup d’état in Brazil.
Bolsonaro’s visit opened another front of investigation. The Federal Police will now analyze whether the former president tried to articulate any diplomatic maneuver to avoid being arrested in the investigation investigating the coup attempt.
Bolsonaro’s lawyers claim that the former president was “hosted by invitation” and, during the period, spoke with Hungarian authorities “updating the political scenarios of the two nations”.
“[Bolsonaro] He always maintained close dialogue with the authorities of that country, dealing with strategic international policy issues of interest to the conservative sector”, explained the former president’s defense to the Minister of the Federal Supreme Court (STF) Alexandre de Moraes.
Records published by The New York Times show that Bolsonaro arrived at the embassy at 9:38 pm on February 12th, a Monday, and left the place at around 4:15 pm on Wednesday, February 14th. The former president’s house in Jardim Botânico, in Brasília, is 12 kilometers from the Hungarian embassy. The distance can be covered by car in around 15 minutes.
While he was President of the Republic, Bolsonaro had four meetings with authorities from the European country. The first of these occurred on January 2, 2019, when he received the Prime Minister of Hungary, Viktor Orbán, at the Planalto Palace for around 45 minutes. Considered one of the main exponents of the ultra-right in Europe, Orbán had participated in Bolsonaro’s inauguration.
On that occasion, the prime minister invited the then president to visit Hungary and the countries of the Visegrad Group, which brings together Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia. According to a record from the Presidency of the Republic, Bolsonaro recalled, at the meeting, that Brazil and Hungary had celebrated 90 years of diplomatic relations in 2017 and expressed interest in sending a delegation for a technical visit to explore opportunities in Hungary and the Visegrad countries.
“The Brazilian leader accepted Orban’s invitation to go to Hungary, which should happen at an opportune time. Jair Bolsonaro also reiterated Brazil’s intention to sign the bilateral extradition treaty with the Hungarian country”, points out the Presidency portal.
Ten months later, in October 2019, Bolsonaro and the then head of Itamaraty, minister Ernesto Araújo, spoke with the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade of Hungary, Péter Szijjártó. That day, the two countries issued a joint statement.
“The ministers highlighted that Brazil and Hungary share common values and principles firmly based on the conviction that national identity constitutes a fundamental human right and the basis for a healthy society”, recorded the note.
“Brazil and Hungary chose a path that combines economic freedom with a strong sense of national identity and values. They are convinced that these two dimensions – that of economic freedom and that of values – reinforce each other.”
After the meeting in October 2019, Bolsonaro met with Hungarian authorities again in 2022, according to the official agenda provided by Palácio do Planalto. On February 17, the former president took a day trip to Budapest, the capital of Hungary, where he met with Orbán and then-president János Áder, for a total of four hours of activities.
Brazil and Hungary signed memorandums of understanding in the areas of defense, humanitarian cooperation and water resources management and water sanitation during the meeting. Bolsonaro said he considered Hungary a brotherly country.
“This passage here is quick, but it will leave a great legacy for our people,” he stated. “I treat (Orbán) practically like a brother, given the affinities we have in defending our people and integrating them.”
In July 2022, Bolsonaro had his last meeting with Hungarian representatives. On the eve of the elections, he met with then president Katalin Novák, János Áder’s successor, at the Planalto Palace.
Orbán is one of Bolsonaro’s main international allies. The Hungarian Prime Minister took power in 2010, a position he had already held for one term between 1998 and 2002. In October 2022, during the Brazilian elections, the Prime Minister publicly declared support for the re-election of the then president. “I have seen few leaders as exceptional as your president,” Orbán said in a video shared by Bolsonaro.
According to experts in criminal law interviewed by the Estadão, visiting an embassy does not constitute a crime or would, in itself, be sufficient for the adoption of some measure. If the investigation already opened by the Federal Police indicates that the objective was to frustrate the application of criminal law, with a request for asylum, for example, then yes, there would be room for Bolsonaro to be placed under electronic monitoring, or even be detained preventively.
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