Hungary would not arrest Russian President Vladimir Putin if he entered the country, as there is no legal basis for this. This was stated during a briefing by the chief of staff of the Hungarian Prime Minister Gergely Guiyash, informed Reuters.
He explained that despite Budapest signing and ratifying the Rome Statute, which created the International Criminal Court (ICC), the treaty was not integrated into the Hungarian legal system.
“Hungary has not recognized the official status of that part of the ICC statute that would allow such an arrest warrant to be binding,” he added, noting that otherwise the country’s constitution would be violated. .
Gergely Gouyash also said the Hungarian government “did not take a position” on Putin’s arrest warrant. At the same time, a representative from the Prime Minister’s Office expressed his “personal subjective opinion”, calling the ICC’s decision “not the most successful, because it leads to further escalation, not peace”.
How Remarks Bloomberg, Hungary signed the Rome Statute of the ICC in 1999 and ratified it in 2001, thereby generally accepting its jurisdiction.
On March 21, Bloomberg, citing sources, reported that Hungary blocked joint statement by the European Union on the ICC arrest warrant against Putin, because of which the head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell, on March 19, made statement only in your own name. He said the EU “takes note” of the ICC’s decision and supports the Court’s prosecutor’s continued investigations into the events in Ukraine.
In Hungary, information about the veto to the EU joint statement was called a “lie”. Press Officer of the Hungarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Mate Patsolai declared that the Budapest police, which was reported to Borrell, is that Hungary takes note of the issuance of an arrest warrant for Putin and “does not want to comment on it in any way”.
At the same time, Patsolai noted that Hungary would not object to statements by the EU High Representative or any other EU country on this issue.
On March 17, the ICC issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin and Russian mediator Maria Lvova-Belova on suspicion of “illegal deportation” of children from Ukraine. The Kremlin has said Russia does not recognize the jurisdiction of the ICC and considers its decision “void”.
Russian Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev has threatened the ICC with missiles if Putin is arrested. The Assembly of States Parties to the Rome Statute condemned the threats against the Court and expressed its “unwavering support”.
Authorities in some countries have said they will arrest Putin if he arrives. In particular, this was stated by the Minister of Justice of Germany Marco Buschmann.
