Hungary will withdraw from the International Criminal Court (ICC), its government said Wednesday, as the country’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban welcomed Israeli Prime Minister and ICC fugitive Benjamin Netanyahu to Budapest.
Speaking alongside Netanyahu in Budapest, Orban said his government decided to leave the court because it has become “a political tool.”
“This very important court has been diminished to a political tool and Hungary wishes to play no role in it,” Orban told reporters during the joint news conference.
Netanyahu praised the decision as “bold and principled,” praising Hungary for its “proud” support for Israel.
“This is important not just for us, but for all democracies … it’s important to stand up to this corrupt organization,” he said. The Israeli PM said he expects Hungary to be the first, but not last country to walk away from the court.
The leaders delivered their short statements without taking any questions.
Netanyahu’s visit to Hungary marked the first time the Israeli leader stepped foot on European soil since the ICC issued an arrest warrant against him in May 2024.
The court said it had “reasonable grounds” to believe Netanyahu bears criminal responsibility for war crimes including “starvation as a method of warfare” and “the crimes against humanity of murder, persecution, and other inhumane acts.”
Netanyahu dismissed the warrant as “absurd and antisemitic.”
“Israel utterly rejects the absurd and false actions and accusations against it by the International Criminal Court, which is a politically biased and discriminatory body,” his office said at the time.
The ICC doesn’t have its own law enforcement powers, so it relies on its member states to make arrests and transfer suspects to the Hague. As a signatory of the Rome Statute, which established the court in 2002, Hungary is obliged to arrest Netanyahu.
But instead, Netanyahu got a warm welcome in the Hungarian capital where he is on a four-day visit. A welcoming ceremony at the Lion’s Court of the imposing Buda Castle saw him walk down a red carpet with Orban on Thursday, before the two leaders held talks.
Hungary is one of Israel’s strongest European allies and many Hungarians hold a strong pro-Israel sentiment. Stickers and posters commemorating the victims of the October 7 terror attack against Israel are a common sign across Budapest. A Holocaust memorial on the bank of the River Danube just outside the Hungarian Parliament has been adorned with yellow ribbons, signaling the support for the hostages held in Gaza.
Hungary’s State Secretary for International Communication and Relations Zoltan Kovacs said the country will begin the withdrawal process on Thursday, “in line with Hungary’s constitutional and international legal obligations.”
The ICC said it would issue a statement on the announcement later.
If it goes through with the withdrawal, Hungary will become the only European Union country not to be part of the ICC.
The bloc has been split in its reaction to the arrest warrants. Some countries, like Ireland and Spain, said they would arrest Netanyahu if he was to visit their territory. Others, including France and Germany, gave a more cautious responses and questioned whether the ICC has jurisdiction over Israel as the country is not a member of the court.
More than 120 countries have signed up to the Rome Statute, but there are some notable exceptions: the United States, China, Russia and Saudi Arabia are not members.
Arrest warrant
The International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Netanyahu and the former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant over the war in Gaza last May.
The move marked the first time the ICC targeted the top leader of a close ally of the United States, putting Netanyahu in the company of the Russian President Vladimir Putin, for whom the ICC issued an arrest warrant over Moscow’s war on Ukraine, and the Libyan strongman Moammar Gadhafi, who was facing an arrest warrant from the ICC for alleged crimes against humanity at the time of his capture and killing in October 2011.
The US – under both the former President Joe Biden and President Donald Trump – criticized the court for issuing the arrest warrants against Netanyahu and Gallant.
Trump went as far as taking steps against the court – imposing economic and travel sanctions on people working on ICC investigations into citizens of the US and its allies.
At the same time, it also issued warrants for three top leaders of Hamas: its leader in Gaza Yahya Sinwar, the leader of the Al Qassem Brigades, the group’s armed wing Mohammed Diab Ibrahim al-Masri, better known as Mohammed Deif, and Ismail Haniyeh, Hamas’ political leader. All three have been killed by Israel in the course of the war.
CNN’s Stephanie Halasz contributed reporting.