100 forcibly displaced Artsakh children, ages 6–15, were taken to a one-week summer camp in Zánka, Hungary, organized by Armenia’s Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs in partnership with the Kotayk Regional Administration and Caritas Armenia.

In 2024, Armenian officials announced that 1,000 Artsakh children would participate in these camps under a controversial deal between Armenia’s Minister of Labor, Narek Mkrtchyan, and Hungary’s Foreign Minister, Péter Szijjártó. In August 2024, 120 children were already sent under this arrangement, marketed as “humanitarian relief” for victims of ethnic cleansing in Artsakh.

Yet Hungary’s role is deeply problematic. The country has consistently aligned itself with Turkey and Azerbaijan, openly backing Azerbaijan during the 2020 Artsakh war and reinforcing this position immediately after. Its record is marred by the infamous 2004 murder of Armenian officer Gurgen Margaryan in Budapest, where his killer, Azerbaijani soldier Ramil Safarov, was extradited by Hungary to Azerbaijan, pardoned on arrival, and celebrated as a hero. This incident remains a defining symbol of Hungary’s complicity in entrenched Armenophobia.

Serious concerns have been raised that these Hungarian state-sponsored camps may function less as humanitarian initiatives and more as tools of indoctrination—pressuring Armenian children to normalize or sympathize with Turkey and Azerbaijan despite the trauma of displacement caused by their aggression. Artsakh’s Human Rights Defender, Gegham Stepanyan, has criticized Hungary’s actions, pointing to its participation in the Turkic States summit in occupied Shushi, its obstruction of EU condemnation of the Berdzor blockade, and its parroting of Azerbaijani positions at the UN.

Far from being a neutral gesture, this program risks manipulating vulnerable children to soften their awareness of the forces responsible for their suffering. By outsourcing the care of Artsakh’s displaced children to a state with such a hostile record toward Armenia, officials not only jeopardize the well-being of these children but also lend legitimacy to Hungary’s long-standing alignment with Turkey and Azerbaijan.