loading…
Hungary will not arrest Russian President Vladimir Putin if he enters the country. Photo/NBC 6 South Florida
BUDAPEST – Authorities in Hungary not going to catch the President Russia Vladimir Putin if he enters the country even though he is the subject of an international arrest warrant on charges of war crimes in Ukraine. This was disclosed by a Hungarian official.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s chief of staff, Gergely Gulyas, told a news conference in Budapest that Putin’s arrest would contravene Hungarian law because the country has not yet introduced the International Criminal Court law into its legal system.
A court based in The Hague, Netherlands, last week issued an arrest warrant for Putin accusing him of being personally responsible for kidnapping children from Ukraine.
Gulyas said the law of the ICC, of which Hungary is a member state, contradicts the Hungarian Constitution, and therefore arresting Putin would violate Hungarian law. The Orban government has yet to take a stand on the warrant, but Gulyas says he finds it counterproductive.
“I think this decision is not the most favorable because it leads to escalation and not towards peace,” he said as quoted by The Associated Press, Friday (24/3/2023).
The possibility of Putin being tried in The Hague is very unlikely as Moscow does not recognize the jurisdiction of the ICC or extradite its nationals. However, the warrant could limit the Russian leader’s ability to travel to the ICC’s 123 member states, which can arrest him under the warrant.
Since Russia invaded Ukraine 13 months ago, Hungary has condemned the war but refuses to supply Ukraine with weapons or allow arms shipments across its borders.
Hungary has also threatened to veto certain European Union (EU) sanctions against Moscow and has delayed applying the bloc’s main funding package to Kiev.
Earlier this week, Hungary refused to join the other 26 EU members in signing a resolution supporting an ICC warrant for Putin.
(ian)
