‘Hungary withdraws from International Criminal Court’

Hungary will withdraw from the International Criminal Court (ICC). That reports The leading Hungarian journalist Szabolcs Panyi on Tuesday evening, based on ‘diplomatic sources’ after previous reports of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.

The timing of the possible withdrawal is striking. On Wednesday, the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will visit, against whom an arrest warrant is out of the ICC because of alleged war crimes, Hungary to talk to Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.

Because of the outstanding arrest warrant against Netanyahu, Hungary should arrest the Israeli Prime Minister as an ICC member. Orbán had previously indicated that this obligation to ignore. According to the Hungarian Prime Minister, the arrest warrant is a « interference in an ongoing conflict with political goals ».

The French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot and the upcoming German Chancellor Friedrich Merz have also indicated that they would not have Netanyahu arrested in the past months when visiting their countries. Hungary now seems to go a step further by withdrawing from the International Criminal Court based in The Hague.

The ICC has 124 ‘Treaty States’, which are part of the Criminal Court. Among them all countries of the European Union. If Hungary withdraws, it would be the only EU member state that is not affiliated with the ICC. There are also countries that have signed the status of the Criminal Court, but have not ratified. This includes the United States, Russia and Israel.

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