Prime Ministers Netanyahu and Viktor Orban spoke on Thursday with U.S. President Donald Trump about the Hungarian decision to withdraw from the International Criminal Court and the potential next steps to be taken on the issue, the Israel National News portal writes. Orban and Netanyahu are Trump's two closest allies in the Western world.
As Magyar Nemzet also reported, the Hungarian prime minister hosted Netanyahu in Budapest. During the joint press conference following the meeting, PM Orban stated the reason behind the government's move to exit the ICC: the Court had become a political body and cited the prosecution of Netanyahu as a prime example of its politicization.
It has become clear to us that this is no longer an impartial court governed by the rule of law, but rather a politically motivated institution. The ICC’s recent decisions, particularly those concerning Israel, have demonstrated this beyond any doubt. A democratic state like Hungary that values its sovereignty and legal integrity, cannot and will not participate in such a court.
Orban emphasized that the ICC, an originally worthy international judicial forum has since transformed into a political instrument, as such Hungary cannot and will not be associated with it.
Hungary Submits Official Withdrawal Documents
Hungary’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade has finalized and submitted a bill to Parliament formalizing the country's withdrawal from the ICC, announced Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto. "The International Criminal Court has discredited not just itself as an institution, but it has also undermined the legitimacy of the entire international judicial system by issuing an openly anti-Semitic arrest warrant against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu," Szijjarto stated.
With this decision, the ICC has degraded the entire international court system into a politically motivated body, and Hungary refuses to be part of such a system,
he stressed.
ICC Responds
Following Hungary’s announcement, the International Criminal Court responded by citing Article 86 of the Rome Statute, which mandates that member states must fully cooperate with the ICC in investigating and prosecuting crimes under its jurisdiction. Furthermore, Article 89(1) states that member states are obliged to comply with ICC arrest and surrender requests, ICC stated following the Hungarian prime minister's announcement.
Cover Photo: Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban hosts Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for talks in Budapest (Photo: MTI/Hungarian Prime Minister's Press Office/Zoltan Fischer).
