Media: Hungary prepares to leave International Criminal Court amid Netanyahu visit

Media reports indicate that Hungarian Justice Minister Bence Tuzson informed diplomats during an ambassadorial meeting that his country was leaving the International Criminal Court.

This development has been reported by the online newspaper Free Europe, according to which a draft resolution of Parliament authorising the government to begin the exit procedure has already been prepared, Caliber.Az reports. 

An anonymous source familiar with the matter told the publication that the entire process could take up to a year. This is not surprising, since in principle the mandate of the Hungarian member of the ICC, Péter Kovács, also expired last year, but since he is still handling a case, he will remain a member of the body until it is concluded. The news came just as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu kicked-off his four-day visit to Budapest, scheduled for April 2, despite him being wanted by the ICC for alleged war crimes committed in Gaza in the course of the ongoing Israel-Hamas war. As a signatory to The Hague court, Hungary has an obligation to arrest him. 

Defying these orders, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán publicly extended an invitation to Netanyahu back in November shortly after the ICC issued the warrant for Netanyahu. "I will guarantee him, if he comes, that the judgment of the ICC will have no effect in Hungary," Orbán then said. 

According to the Free Europe publication, the Hungarian Minister Head of the Prime Minister's Office, Gergely Gulyás, already mentioned in a governmental memo on February 25 that the government was considering withdrawing from the ICC, arguing that the organization had "become a political actor." 

By Nazrin Sadigova