Hungary announces withdrawal from ICC as Netanyahu visits
Hungary's government on Thursday decided to withdraw from the International Criminal Court, shortly after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, sought under an ICC arrest warrant over war crimes in Gaza, arrived in the country for a four-day visit.
“Hungary withdraws from the International Criminal Court. The termination procedure, in accordance with the constitutional and international legal framework, will be initiated by the government on Thursday,” Gulyas Gergely, Prime Minister Viktor Orban's chief staff wrote on Facebook.
The decision comes as Hungary, a founding ICC member, is theoretically obliged to arrest and hand over anyone subject to a warrant from the court.
The withdrawal bill is likely to be approved by Hungary’s parliament that is dominated by Orban’s Fidesz party.
Earlier ICC has criticised Hungary’s decision to defy its warrant for Netanyahu.
Fadi El-Abdallah, the spokesperson of the International Criminal Court, denounced Netanyahu; 's visit to Hungary, stating, “Non-compliance with the court’s decision to arrest and surrender Netanyahu to The Hague contradicts the Rome Statute and the EU nation's obligations as a member state of the ICC's founding treaty.”
Human Rights Watch (HRW) urged Hungary to deny entry to Netanyahu or arrest him if he enters the country.
“Orban’s invitation to Netanyahu is an affront to victims of serious crimes,” said Liz Evenson, international justice director at Human Rights Watch.
“Allowing Netanyahu’s visit in breach of Hungary's ICC obligations would be Orban's latest assault on the rule of law, adding to the country’s dismal record on rights,” Evenson said.
Human Rights Watch also alleged that ” Since his 2010 electoral win, Orban and his government have shown increasingly blatant disregard for the rule of law and human rights. In more than 14 years, it has curbed judicial independence, restricted and harassed civil society, and undermined media independence,”
Amnesty International also condemned the visit, stating, “Netanyahu’s reported visit should be seen as a cynical effort to undermine the ICC and its work, and is an insult to the victims of these crimes who are looking to the Court for justice.”
“Prime Minister Netanyahu is an alleged war criminal, who is accused of using starvation as a method of warfare, intentionally attacking civilians and the crimes against humanity of murder, persecution, and other inhumane acts,” said Erika Guevara-Rosas the head of Global Research, Advocacy and Policy of Amnesty International, urging Hungary to arrest.
She said, “Any trip he takes to an ICC member state that does not end in his arrest would embolden Israel to commit further crimes against Palestinians in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.”
She alleged that Hungary’s invitation itself is contempt of international law and confirms that “war criminals wanted by the ICC are welcome on the streets of a European Union member state.”
In November 2024, the ICC issued arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity. These include starving civilians, intentionally directing attacks against a civilian population, murder, and persecution.
When the warrants were issued, Hungary’s Foreign Minister Peter Szijjártó criticized the warrants as “shameful and absurd” and “unacceptable,” and Orban announced his intention to invite Netanyahu to Hungary.
Leaders from ICC member states France, Germany, Italy, Hungary, and Poland have said they would not arrest Benjamin Netanyahu if he visited, despite the ICC’s Rome Statute requiring member states to arrest and surrender individuals with ICC warrants.
The trip will be Netanyahu’s second abroad since the ICC issued warrants; he previously visited Washington in February to meet close ally US President Donald Trump, with both Israel and the United States not being ICC members.
