Skip to content
Edit post

Hungarian official says Budapest will not arrest Putin if he visits

by The Kyiv Independent news desk March 23, 2023 7:14 PM 1 min read
This audio is created with AI assistance

Support independent journalism in Ukraine. Join us in this fight.

Become a member Support us just once

Despite the arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC), Hungary would not detain Russian dictator Vladimir Putin if he entered the country, Prime Minister Viktor Orban's chief of staff Gergely Gulyas said on March 23, cited by Reuters.

According to Gulyas, although Budapest signed and ratified the Rome Statute that created the ICC, it has no legal grounds to arrest Putin as the treaty was not incorporated into the Hungarian legal system.

Gulyas told reporters the Hungarian government "had not formed a stance" on the ICC's warrant for Putin's arrest.

"These decisions are not the most fortunate as they take things towards further escalation and not towards peace, this is my personal subjective opinion," Gulyas added, as quoted by Reuters.

On March 21, Bloomberg reported, citing sources privy to the information, that Hungary had prevented European Union member states from releasing a joint statement on the ICC's arrest warrant.

Budapest has resisted several multilateral efforts to support Ukraine amid Russia's full-scale war. The Hungarian government has repeatedly criticized EU sanctions against Russia, citing their negative impact on the European economy.

The ICC issued an arrest warrant on March 17 for Putin and Maria Lvova-Belova, the Russian official allegedly overseeing the forced deportations of Ukrainian children to Russia -- a move that President Volodymyr Zelensky called "historic."

All 123 countries that are members of the ICC and have ratified the Rome Status, which establishes crimes falling within the jurisdiction of the court, are now obliged to cooperate with the court's demand to arrest Putin.

Russia withdrew from the ICC in 2016 following criticism of Russia's illegal annexation of Crimea.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on March 22, according to CNN, that any European ICC member should arrest Putin in case of his visit. The United States itself is not a party to the court.

Survey: 41,4% of respondents think Hungary could make territorial claims against Ukraine
Support independent journalism in Ukraine. Join us in this fight.
Freedom can be costly. Both Ukraine and its journalists are paying a high price for their independence. Support independent journalism in its darkest hour. Support us for as little as $1, and it only takes a minute.
visa masterCard americanExpress

News Feed

4:50 PM

Ukraine, Poland ready to conclude agreement on joint border control.

In the document published following the talks, the parties "confirmed their readiness to conclude an Agreement on providing control at joint border checkpoints and cooperation of control bodies" and, once approved by the European Commission, "to launch logistical data exchange at selected road border crossing points."
Ukraine Daily
News from Ukraine in your inbox
Ukraine news
Please, enter correct email address
11:16 AM

Kuleba begins first trip to India.

Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said he was in the Indian capital New Delhi at the invitation of Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, and that the two would "pay specific attention to the peace formula" in their talks.
5:30 AM

Ukrainian POWs faced conditional release from Hungary.

Two Ukrainian prisoners of war, part of a group of 11 handed over to Hungary by Russia in June 2023, said in an interview to Deutsche Welle, that Hungarian representatives imposed conditions preventing their return to Ukraine until the war's end.
3:16 AM

Estonian police arrest citizen who reported for Russian state media.

Estonian police have arrested Svetlana Burceva, an Estonian citizen, for allegedly violating international sanctions having served as a reporter for Russian state sponsored Balt News - an arm of the Kremlin-run Russia Today (RT) news outlet, Estonian publication Eesti Ekspress reported on March 27.
MORE NEWS

Editors' Picks

Enter your email to subscribe
Please, enter correct email address
Subscribe
* indicates required
* indicates required
Subscribe
* indicates required
* indicates required
Subscribe
* indicates required

Subscribe

* indicates required
Subscribe
* indicates required

Subscribe

* indicates required
Successfuly subscribed
Thank you for signing up for this newsletter. We’ve sent you a confirmation email.