Hungary Announces Withdrawal from ICC Following Israeli PM's Visit

On Thursday, Hungary’s government announced its decision to withdraw from the International Criminal Court.

The announcement came shortly after Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu, who is the subject of an ICC arrest warrant, arrived in the country for a state visit.

In November, right-wing Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban invited his Israeli counterpart to Budapest, just a day after the ICC issued an arrest warrant against Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu. 

The warrant was issued over allegations of war crimes in Gaza, where Israel launched an offensive following an attack by Hamas-led fighters on southern Israel.

Hungary, as a founding member of the ICC, is technically required to arrest and surrender individuals subject to an arrest warrant from the court. However, Prime Minister Orban has stated that Hungary will not adhere to the ruling, calling it “brazen, cynical, and completely unacceptable.”

Gergely Gulyas, Orban’s chief of staff, said in November that although Hungary ratified the Rome Statute of the ICC, it “was never made part of Hungarian law”, meaning that no measure of the court can be carried out within Hungary.

On Thursday, Gulyas told state news agency MTI that the government would launch the withdrawal process later in the day.

Orban had raised the prospect of Hungary’s exit from the ICC after U.S. President Donald Trump imposed sanctions on the court’s prosecutor Karim Khan in February.

“It’s time for Hungary to review what we’re doing in an international organization that is under U.S. sanctions,” Orban said on X in February.

The bill on starting the year-long process of withdrawing from the ICC is likely to be approved by Hungary’s parliament that is dominated by Orban’s Fidesz party.

The Netherlands, which hosts the ICC, said that until withdrawal is complete, Hungary must still meet its duties.

“The full process to withdraw from the ICC takes about a year, during that time Hungary will have to fulfil all its obligations to the court,” Dutch Foreign Minister Caspar Veldkamp told reporters on the sidelines of a NATO meeting in Brussels.

Source: Reuters