Lawmakers in Hungary have voted overwhelmingly for the country to remain a member of the international criminal court, reversing a decision made by the previous government of Viktor Orbán.
Wednesday’s vote came days before the country was poised to become the only EU member state not to recognise the jurisdiction of the global tribunal, which aims to prosecute those accused of war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity.
In April last year, Orbán announced that Hungary would begin the process of pulling out of what he decried as a “political court”. He made the comments while hosting his Israeli counterpart, Benjamin Netanyahu, a longtime ally and the subject of an ICC arrest warrant, in Budapest.
After Péter Magyar was elected as prime minister in a landslide victory last month, the new leaderrepeatedly vowed that his government would reverse the withdrawal before it took effect on 2 June.
On Monday, Magyar’s government submitted a bill to the parliament, setting in motion a fast-tracked procedure that resulted in 133 of the 199 lawmakers voting to back the bill.
The legislation must now be signed into law by the president, Tamás Sulyok, an Orbán-era appointee whom Magyar has repeatedly called on to resign.
Earlier this week, the ICC’s legislative body hailed Hungary’s plan to reverse the withdrawal, describing it as “essential” to ensuring accountability for the world’s gravest crimes.
The U-turn marks a bright moment for the beleaguered institution. Since Donald Trump’s return to power in the US last year, his administration has worked steadily to hobble the Hague-based court, imposing sanctions on 11 of the court’s officials.
Several of the judges and the chief prosecutor have been left grappling with the fallout, from cancelled credit cards to disappearing Amazon and Google accounts, in what one judge described as a “direct and flagrant attack” on one of the world’s most prominent courts.
For weeks, Magyar had made it clear that his Tisza party would work to ensure that Hungary, a founding member of the ICC treaty, would not join the ranks of countries, such as China, Israel, Russia and the US, that refuse to recognise the court’s jurisdiction.
This week’s legislation framed the decision as one aimed at maintaining global peace and protecting human rights, noting: “It is essential that those who commit the most serious international crimes be held accountable before an international judicial forum.”
Reversing the ICC withdrawal would mean that Netanyahu would be arrested if he stepped foot in the country, Magyar told reporters last month, indicating that the end of Orbán’s time in power meant Israel had lost one of its staunchest allies in Europe.
“I believe that if the country is a member of the international criminal court, and a person who is wanted by the court enters our territory, then that person must be taken into custody,” Magyar said.
In 2024, the ICC issued an arrest warrant for Netanyahu over allegations of crimes against humanity and war crimes – including starvation as a method of warfare – in Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza. His office has rejected the court’s “false and absurd” accusations, describing them as fuelled by antisemitism and the politically motivated move of “a biased and discriminatory political body”.
In July last year, a panel of ICC judges determined that Hungary had failed to comply with its legal obligation to arrest Netanyahu during the visit to Budapest. Noting that the obligation to cooperate had been made sufficiently clear to Hungary, the judges said the “failure to arrest suspects severely undermines the court’s ability to carry out its mandate”.
Before the visit, Hungary had not shared any concerns over the arrest warrants with the court, the judges noted. “Hungary did not engage with the court before or during Mr Netanyahu’s visit and instead decided to unilaterally withhold cooperation,” they said.
