Hungary announces withdrawal from International Criminal Court
(VOVWORLD) -The Hungarian government announced its withdrawal from the International Criminal Court (ICC) on Thursday as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was visiting Budapest.
 Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu walk the red carpet during a welcoming ceremony at the Lion Courtyard in Budapest, April 3. Photo: Reuters
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This has been Netanyahu's second foreign trip since November 2024 when the ICC issued an arrest warrant for him over alleged war crimes in Gaza.
The formal withdrawal process will be in line with constitutional and international legal frameworks, head of the Prime Minister's Office Gergely Gulyas said on Thursday.
“Hungary remains under a duty to cooperate with the ICC,” the court’s spokesman, Fadi El Abdallah, said in a statement after the withdrawal announcement.
All 27 EU member states, including Hungary, are currently ICC members. According to the statute, members are obliged to fully cooperate with the ICC in the arrest, prosecution and trial of crimes under the court's jurisdiction. Israel is not an ICC member.