Hungary withdraws from the International Criminal Court: Orban’s proposal approved

The Hungarian Parliament votes to leave the ICC. For Budapest the Court is politicised. The withdrawal will become effective in one year

The Hungarian parliament has approved the proposal of Viktor Orban’s government to initiate the country’s withdrawal from the International Criminal Court (ICC). A decision that had already been announced at the beginning of April, on the occasion of the visit to Budapest of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is currently the subject of an international arrest warrant by The Hague Court.

Foreign Minister Peter Szijjártó justified the step back by calling the ICC ‘a politicised institution’, accused of having lost neutrality and legitimacy. The withdrawal, however, will not take immediate effect: according to the rules of the Rome Statute, it will take one year after formal notification for it to become operational. In the meantime, Hungary will remain bound by the obligations it signed upon accession.

The decision has already ignited political reactions. ‘A choice of justice and freedom, of sovereignty and courage,’ Italian Lega League party leader Matteo Salvini commented on X, openly supporting Orban’s line.

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