Hungary to get out of the International Criminal Court

The Hungarian government has announced that it was leaving the International Criminal Court (ICC).

The move was announced by a high -ranking government minister, Prime Minister Viktor Orban, a few hours after Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu, who was looking for an ICC arrest warrant, arrived in Hungary for a state visit.

Orban invited Netanyahu as soon as the warrant was issued in November last year, saying that the ruling in his country “would not have any effect”.

In November, the ICC judges said there were “reasonable grounds” that Netanyahu is “criminal responsibility” for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity during the war between Israel and Hamas. Netanyahu condemned the ICC’s decision as “anti -Semite”.

The ICC, the World Court, has the powers to prosecute those accused of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes.

Hungary is the founder of the ICC, which has 125 member states, and will become the first nation of the European Union, which pulled out of it.

The ICC was a “respectable initiative”, the Chief of Staff of Orban Hergel Gulos told the Hungarian state agency MTI, but added that he deviated from the initial appointment and became a political body.

He said the warrant issued against Netanyahu was unacceptable and that the government no longer wanted to participate in the court’s work. The Hungarian Parliament has never announced the ICC Charter, so it is not part of the country’s law, Gulos added.

Meanwhile, Israel thanked Orban for its “clear and strong moral position with Israel,” Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar wrote on X.

“The so-called” International Criminal Court “has lost its moral authority after the top basic principles of international law in his understanding for the harm of Israel’s right to self-defense,” Sa’ar added.

The US, Russia, China and North Korea are among the non -ICC countries and therefore do not recognize its jurisdiction.

Israel is also not part of the contract, but the ICC in 2021 ruled that it had jurisdiction over the occupied West Bank, eastern Jerusalem and Gaza, since the UN Secretary -General accepted it Palestinians were a member.

Now Hungary must send a written notice to the UN Secretary -General to leave the contract, and the withdrawal came into force in a year, according to Article 127 of the Rome Statute.

Ever since the warrant has been issued, the Hungarian authorities should technically arrest Netanyahu and brought him to the Hague, although the Member countries do not always choose orders for the ICC.

In Europe, some MCC countries have said they would be arrested by an Israeli leader when he stepped into his country and others, for example, Germany, announced that he was not detained when he would visit.

The White House said the US had dismissed the ICC’s decision, and Netanyahu visited the country because the warrant was issued in November. His visit to Hungary marks the first trip to Netanyahu to Europe.

Hungarian Defense Minister Kristof Salai-Bobrovnik greeted Netanyahu at the Asphalt Airport Budapest on Wednesday night, welcoming him to the country.

Israel resorts to Arrest of Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Joava GallatAnd he strongly rejects the allegations. Both of him denies the powers of the ICC and the legitimacy of orders.

Netanyahu at the time stated that it was a “dark day in human history” and that the ICC became “enemies of mankind”.

“This is an anti -Semitic step that has one purpose – to scare me to restrain us from the natural right to protect ourselves from the enemies who try to destroy us,” he said.

In the same ruling, the Judge of the ICC also spoke with a warrant against military commander Hamas Mohammed Defa, whom Israel says he has died.

The visit comes when Israel has announced that he was expanding his offensive in Gaza and created a new military corridor to put pressure on Hamas, as deadly Israeli strokes were registered in the Palestinian territory.

On October 7, 2023, the Gaza war was caused by the deadly attacks led by Hamas on Southern Israel, which killed about 1,200 people and led to 251 hostages were taken to gas. Since then, the Palestinian health authorities have killed more than 50,000 Palestinians.