(CN) — In an act of defiance while playing host to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán on Thursday said his country would withdraw from the International Criminal Court.
Orbán’s announcement coincided with Netanyahu’s arrival in Hungary for a four-day visit. This was Netanyahu’s first trip to Europe since the ICC issued an arrest warrant against him last November for war crimes over Israel’s onslaught in the Gaza Strip.
Hungary would become the first EU member state to withdraw from The Hague-based court, the world’s only permanent tribunal for war crimes and genocide.
Orbán is a far-right authoritarian leader and close ally of both U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, who is also wanted by the ICC for war crimes in Ukraine. Orbán’s rejection of the ICC is in line with Russia, the U.S. and Israel, all of which do not recognize the court’s authority.
Putin, too, has traveled outside Russia in defiance of an ICC arrest warrant, including a trip last September to Mongolia, a country under the ICC’s jurisdiction.
Without a police force of its own, the ICC relies on countries that signed the court’s founding treaty, the Rome Statute, to make arrests. All 27 EU states are signatories to the Rome Statute.
In a statement, the ICC said members to the Rome Statute must carry out the court’s decisions.
“This is not only a legal obligation to the court under the Rome Statute, it is also a responsibility towards other” states, the court wrote in an email, responding to a query from Courthouse News.
It added that it is not up to states to “unilaterally determine the soundness of the court’s legal decisions.”
Immediately after the ICC issued arrest warrants against Netanyahu and his former defense minister, Orbán said he would not honor the warrant and called it “outrageously impudent” and “cynical.”
Orbán, though, is not the only European leader ready to welcome Netanyahu.
Friedrich Merz, Germany’s likely next chancellor, said last month he would like to host Netanyahu in Germany. Poland also considered inviting Netanyahu to the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz. France has said Netanyahu enjoys immunity from the arrest warrant, citing Israel’s decision to not sign the Rome Statute. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni also has suggested Italy would not arrest Netanyahu.
European leaders were quiet Thursday about Netanyahu’s visit and did not demand Hungary execute arrest warrant.
In February, Netanyahu traveled to Washington to meet Trump. At the time, Trump shocked the world by saying the U.S. would take over the Gaza Strip and redevelop it. He also signed an executive order imposing sanctions on the ICC for its probe into Israel’s attacks on the Gaza Strip following the Oct. 7, 2023, attack by Hamas on southern Israel. About 1,200 people were killed during the Hamas raid and the militant group took 250 people captive.
Since then, Israel’s attacks have killed more than 50,000 people, the majority of them civilians, according to the Gaza health ministry.
Orbán unfurled the red carpet for Netanyahu as he welcomed him with military honors in Budapest, the Hungarian capital.
At a news conference, Orbán said the ICC was no longer impartial and that it had “become a political instrument,” according to a government news release. Standing next to Orbán, Netanyahu applauded.
“A democratic state like Hungary cannot take part in such a system,” Orbán said. He depicted Hungary as a strong defender of Israel and Jews and claimed Europe was beset by rising antisemitism due to a large influx of Muslim immigrants.
“You have taken a courageous and principled stand, and I thank you, Viktor,” Netanyahu said at the news conference. He called the ICC a “corrupt organization.”
Geoffrey Robertson, a well-known international Australian-British lawyer, said Hungary would “not be missed” if it withdrew from the ICC.
“In fact, it is a case of good riddance, given the way Orbán has effectively supported the war crimes of Putin and Netanyahu,” Robertson said in an email to Courthouse News. “Hungary deserves to be expelled from the EU. It will now become a haven for war criminals, who will be safe from ICC warrants.”
Netanyahu’s trip to Hungary comes shortly after he declared Israel was seizing parts of the Gaza Strip in violation of international law. The Gaza Strip, home to more than 2 million Palestinians, is designated to become part of a future Palestinian state.
Israel ended a ceasefire with Hamas two weeks ago and resumed bombing the Gaza Strip and deploying troops into the enclave. Netanyahu backs Trump’s call for the Gaza Strip to be cleared of Palestinians. Critics accuse Israel of carrying out ethnic cleansing in Gaza.
Amnesty International and other human rights groups called for Netanyahu’s arrest in Hungary.
“Prime Minister Netanyahu is an alleged war criminal, who is accused of using starvation as a method of warfare, intentionally attacking civilians and the crimes against humanity of murder, persecution, and other inhumane acts,” said Erika Guevara-Rosas, Amnesty International’s head of global research, in a statement ahead of Netanyahu’s trip.
Amnesty International said allowing Netanyahu to get away with a visit to Hungary would “embolden Israel to commit further crimes against Palestinians” in the Gaza Strip and West Bank.
“Hungary’s invitation shows contempt for international law and confirms that alleged war criminals wanted by the ICC are welcome on the streets of a European Union member state,” Guevara-Rosas said.
Courthouse News reporter Cain Burdeau is based in the European Union.