Mathias Busekist
Hungary is being investigated by the International Criminal Court for refusing to arrest a major political leader.
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The International Criminal Court (ICC) has opened contempt proceedings against Hungary after the country hosted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier this month, despite an active ICC arrest warrant for alleged crimes against humanity linked to the war in Gaza.
In a statement released Wednesday evening, the Hague-based tribunal requested an explanation from Hungary for its failure to detain Netanyahu during his visit to Budapest. The Israeli leader is currently under ICC investigation over his role in the escalating conflict in Gaza, which has drawn intense international scrutiny.
Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orbán responded defiantly, announcing that his government would begin the process of withdrawing from the ICC altogether—a move that would make Hungary the only European Union member state not party to the Rome Statute.
Orbán, speaking on national radio, accused the ICC of acting as a “political court” rather than an impartial legal body, and defended his decision by pointing to procedural gaps in Hungarian law.
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“We signed an international treaty, but we never took all the steps that would otherwise have made it applicable in Hungary,” Orbán said, referencing the lack of domestic ratification of the court’s statute by the Hungarian parliament.
The ICC’s registrar had reportedly warned the Hungarian government ahead of Netanyahu’s visit, reminding it of its legal obligations to arrest and surrender individuals subject to ICC warrants. However, Hungary did not act, prompting the court’s latest investigation.
This marks the third such probe in the past year into a state party’s non-compliance with arrest orders. In February, the ICC questioned Italy’s handling of a Libyan suspect accused of war crimes. Similarly, in October, Mongolia was reported to the court’s oversight body for failing to arrest Russian President Vladimir Putin during a visit.
Hungary has until May 23 to submit evidence in its defense. If it proceeds with its withdrawal, the process would take at least a year. Only two countries—Burundi and the Philippines—have previously withdrawn from the ICC since its founding in 2002.
