Hungary's Parliament voted on April 29 to approve the country's withdrawal from the International Criminal Court (ICC), Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto announced on X.
The decision formalizes Hungary's intention, first announced in early April during Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's visit to Budapest.
The move follows the ICC's issuance of an arrest warrant for Netanyahu over alleged war crimes committed in Gaza — a move Budapest has sharply criticized.
"With this decision, we refuse to be part of a politicized institution that has lost its impartiality and credibility," Szijjarto wrote.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar welcomed Hungary's move, according to the Times of Israel. Following the vote, withdrawing from the ICC jurisdiction will take a year, once Budapest officially notifies the U.N. Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, of its decision
The ICC, established in 2002 under the Rome Statute, is a permanent tribunal based in The Hague that prosecutes individuals for genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity, and the crime of aggression.
In March 2023, the ICC issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin over the forcible deportation of children from Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine.
Despite the warrant, Mongolia hosted Putin for an official visit in September 2024, citing energy dependence as its reason for not executing the arrest and saying it had limited options.
Dmytro Basmat
(Updated: )
