Hungary announces ICC withdrawal as Israel's PM visits
A state's withdrawal takes effect one year after the deposit of the withdrawal's instrument — usually in the form of a formal letter declaring the pullout — with the UN Secretary General's office
Published: 07:04 PM,Apr 03,2025 | EDITED : 11:04 PM,Apr 03,2025
Hungarian PM Viktor Orban and Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu walk during a welcoming ceremony, in Budapest. — Reuters
BUDAPEST: Hungary on Thursday said it will quit the International Criminal Court, just as Prime Minister Viktor Orban hosted his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu, whom the tribunal has accused of war crimes in Gaza. The government announcement to start the year-long withdrawal process came as Orban welcomed Netanyahu in the capital Budapest on his first trip to Europe since 2023.
Netanyahu, who faces an ICC arrest warrant that Hungary said it would not carry out, welcomed his hosts' 'bold and principled' decision to leave the tribunal. Set up in 2002, the ICC, based in The Hague, seeks to prosecute individuals responsible for the world's gravest crimes when countries are unwilling or unable to do so themselves. 'It's important for all democracies. It's important to stand up to this corrupt organisation,' Netanyahu told a joint press conference with Orban.
Orban said the ICC was 'no longer an impartial court' but a 'political court' as shown 'most clearly by the decisions on Israel'. Orban invited Netanyahu last November, a day after the ICC issued the arrest warrant against the Israeli leader for crimes against humanity and war crimes — allegations he fiercely rejects. Hungary's government will initiate the ICC withdrawal procedure on Thursday, according to Orban. A state's withdrawal takes effect one year after the deposit of the withdrawal's instrument — usually in the form of a formal letter declaring the pullout — with the UN Secretary General's office.
The ICC on Thursday insisted Hungary had a 'duty' to cooperate with the body. 'The court recalls that Hungary remains under a duty to cooperate with the ICC,' spokesman Fadi El Abdallah said. Experts say Netanyahu is trying to diminish the impact of the court's decision, while hoping to drive attention away from tensions at home as he meets like-minded ally Orban. 'His ultimate goal is to regain the ability to travel wherever he wants,' Moshe Klughaft, an international strategic consultant and former adviser to Netanyahu, said. 'At first, he's flying to places where there's no risk of arrest, and in doing so, he's also paving the way to normalise his future travels.'
Meanwhile, the Palestinian Authority (PA) on Thursday urged Hungary to arrest visiting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in accordance with an International Criminal Court (ICC) warrant over alleged war crimes in the Gaza Strip. 'The ministry calls on the Hungarian government... to comply with the International Criminal Court's arrest warrant by immediately handing Netanyahu over to bring him to justice', the Ramallah-based PA's foreign affairs ministry said in a statement hours after Hungary announced it would withdraw from the ICC.
The ICC issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and former defence minister Yoav Gallant over allegations of crimes against humanity and war crimes — including starvation as a method of warfare — in Israel's war against Hamas in Gaza. — AFP
Netanyahu, who faces an ICC arrest warrant that Hungary said it would not carry out, welcomed his hosts' 'bold and principled' decision to leave the tribunal. Set up in 2002, the ICC, based in The Hague, seeks to prosecute individuals responsible for the world's gravest crimes when countries are unwilling or unable to do so themselves. 'It's important for all democracies. It's important to stand up to this corrupt organisation,' Netanyahu told a joint press conference with Orban.
Orban said the ICC was 'no longer an impartial court' but a 'political court' as shown 'most clearly by the decisions on Israel'. Orban invited Netanyahu last November, a day after the ICC issued the arrest warrant against the Israeli leader for crimes against humanity and war crimes — allegations he fiercely rejects. Hungary's government will initiate the ICC withdrawal procedure on Thursday, according to Orban. A state's withdrawal takes effect one year after the deposit of the withdrawal's instrument — usually in the form of a formal letter declaring the pullout — with the UN Secretary General's office.
The ICC on Thursday insisted Hungary had a 'duty' to cooperate with the body. 'The court recalls that Hungary remains under a duty to cooperate with the ICC,' spokesman Fadi El Abdallah said. Experts say Netanyahu is trying to diminish the impact of the court's decision, while hoping to drive attention away from tensions at home as he meets like-minded ally Orban. 'His ultimate goal is to regain the ability to travel wherever he wants,' Moshe Klughaft, an international strategic consultant and former adviser to Netanyahu, said. 'At first, he's flying to places where there's no risk of arrest, and in doing so, he's also paving the way to normalise his future travels.'
Meanwhile, the Palestinian Authority (PA) on Thursday urged Hungary to arrest visiting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in accordance with an International Criminal Court (ICC) warrant over alleged war crimes in the Gaza Strip. 'The ministry calls on the Hungarian government... to comply with the International Criminal Court's arrest warrant by immediately handing Netanyahu over to bring him to justice', the Ramallah-based PA's foreign affairs ministry said in a statement hours after Hungary announced it would withdraw from the ICC.
The ICC issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and former defence minister Yoav Gallant over allegations of crimes against humanity and war crimes — including starvation as a method of warfare — in Israel's war against Hamas in Gaza. — AFP