 The "hospodars" of the period, Prince Grigore Alexandru Ghica in Moldavia and Prince Barbu Dimitrie Știrbei in Wallachia, were removed from their thrones, and the region was governed by the Russian general Aleksandr Ivanovich Budberg.As the Balkans remained a secondary theatre of war, the two Principalities were taken over by a neutral Austrian administration in September 1854—part of a settlement between the Porte and Russia (the Austrians remained until 1857).Grigore Ghica and Știrbei were returned to the thrones in the same year, and completed the last series of reforms carried under the terms of the "Regulament".