Why Brazil's Jair Bolsonaro is in trouble for his two-night sleepover in Hungarian embassy

Two-night “hiding” at Hungary’s embassy in Brasília in February has piled on to the existing troubles of Jair Bolsonaro, who is now facing a police investigation. There is speculation from his opponents who alleged that Brazil’s former president may have been attempting to evade arrest.

Amid this, Brazil’s foreign ministry has summoned Hungarian ambassador Miklos Halmai to explain why Bolsonaro was his guest at Hungary’s embassy in Brasília.

What actually happened?

On February 8, federal police of Brazil confiscated Bolsonaro’s passport and arrested two of his former aides on the accusation that they had plotted a coup after he lost the 2022 presidential election.

According to security footage obtained by The New York Times, four days later, Bolsonaro was seen at the entrance of the Hungarian embassy, a short drive from the presidential palace. He was waiting to be let in.

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The report further said the footage showed, the former Brazilian president stayed at the embassy for the next couple of days.

The three days of footage from four different security cameras in the Hungarian embassy showed Bolsonaro arrived late on February 12 and left around the afternoon of February 14. In between, the former president mostly stayed out of sight, the report said.

The report also quoted an official of the Hungarian embassy confirming the plan to host Bolsonaro.

Bolsonaro ‘seeking to leverage his friendship’ with Hungary’s PM

The report further said Bolsonaro’s stay in the embassy suggests he was “seeking to leverage his friendship with a fellow far-right leader, Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orbán of Hungary, into an attempt to evade the Brazilian justice system as he faces criminal investigations at home”.

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Bolsonaro confirms stay at Hungarian embassy

Bolsonaro confirmed his stay at the Hungarian embassy and told Metrópoles, a Brazilian news outlet: “I won’t deny that I was in the embassy.”

“I won’t say where else I’ve been. I have a circle of friends with some heads of state around the world. They are worried. I talk to them about matters in our country’s interest. Full stop. The rest is speculation,” he further said.

Bolsonaro stayed at embassy to discuss ‘politics’

Lawyers of Bolsonaro said the former president had been in the embassy “to keep in touch with the authorities of a friendly country”.

They said Bolsonaro stayed at the embassy to discuss politics with Hungarian diplomats.

Alternative interpretations amounted to “a work of fiction, with no connection to the reality of the facts” and were “fake news”, the layers said in a statement.

Bolsonaro and Orban’s bonhomie

For years, Bolsonaro and Orban have been sharing a close relationship. Brazil’s ex-president called Hungary’s PM his “brother” in 2022.

In the same year, Hungary’s foreign minister asked an official from Bolsonaro’s administration if Hungary could do anything to help re-elect him.

Bolsonaro and Orban, in December, met in Buenos Aires at the inauguration of Argentina’s new right-wing president, Javier Milei. There, Orban called Bolsonaro a “hero.”

Criminal investigations against Bolsonaro

In late 2022, Bolsonaro lost the post of president after being defeated by his leftist rival Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

Bolsonaro has been facing a slew of criminal investigations in Brazil, relating to claims that he faked Covid vaccination records, sought to siphon off expensive foreign gifts and plotted to topple the government of his successor.

Over the last 15 months, since he left office, Bolsonaro’s home has been searched, his cell phone and passport have been confiscated and several of his allies as well as former aides have been arrested.

With inputs from agencies