Amendments to Hungarian legislation grant former Polish officials protection

A swiftly adopted amendment to Hungarian legislation has effectively blocked attempts to arrest individuals on the basis of a European arrest warrant, a change that applies to two former Polish officials currently staying in Hungary and facing criminal charges in Poland.

The revised law means that former Polish Justice Minister Zbigniew Ziobro will not be arrested in Hungary even if Warsaw requests the execution of a European arrest warrant following multiple charges brought against him at home, Caliber.Az reports, citing the Polish outlet Fakt.

According to their media report, the relevant legislation on judicial cooperation with EU member states was amended shortly before Christmas and published in the Official Gazette. Under the new provisions, starting from January 1, 2026, Hungarian courts must refuse to enforce a European arrest warrant for individuals who have been granted refugee status in Hungary or another EU country if the warrant has been issued by their country of origin.

As Fakt explains, this means that even if a Polish court were to issue a European arrest warrant for Zbigniew Ziobro or his former deputy Marcin Romanowski — who has also been granted protection by Budapest — Hungary would be unable to transfer them to the Polish authorities. The rule also applies in cases where refugee status is formally withdrawn but, in the view of the Hungarian authorities, the grounds for granting protection still exist, including situations involving the acquisition of Hungarian citizenship.

Poland’s prosecutor’s office plans to bring 26 criminal charges against Ziobro, including leading an organised criminal group that allegedly misappropriated at least PLN 150 million (around €35 million) from the Justice Fund overseen by the Ministry of Justice during the Law and Justice (PiS) party’s last period in power between 2015 and 2023.

On November 7, 2025, the Sejm, Poland’s lower house of parliament, lifted Ziobro’s immunity on all 26 counts. Prosecutors subsequently requested that he be placed in pretrial detention for three months.

A court hearing on the motion was scheduled for December 22 last year, but was postponed until January 15. Ziobro travelled to Hungary before the Sejm voted to waive his immunity, explaining at the time that he had received information “from a reliable source” that the government intended to detain him upon his return to Poland. His legal team has since confirmed that the former minister is currently under the protection of the Hungarian government.

By Nazrin Sadigova