Orban attacks MTK: It is a political court. Netanyahu is completely safe

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said on Friday that the International Criminal Court (MTK) is a political court, and Budapest has never been enthusiastically approached by its jurisdiction. He also assured that the head of the Israeli government Benjamin Netanyahu is completely safe in Hungary despite the arrest warrant issued by the MTK.

In a traditional weekly conversation on Hungarian public, Radio Orban referred to the decision to speak of Hungary from MTK. “A lot of international institutions have become political bodies. Unfortunately, MTK is one of them – it is a political court,” said the prime minister during the interview. He also added that the Tribunal, like some other international institutions, turned against the independence of the Member States and goes beyond its own competence framework.

The politician emphasized that his country has never seriously treated this organization. “Hungary always approached MTK, because – although they signed the Roman statute – they never made him part of Hungarian law,” explained Orban. “We have never taken all the steps to become an integral part of Hungarian law,” the prime minister noted. Orban also argued that “it cannot be said that the whole world was in a hurry to become a member of this organization,” because such steps are not taken by the USA, China, Russia or Türkiye.

In this context, the Prime Minister of Hungary once again assured that – Despite the arrest warrant issued by the MTK – his country will not stop Netanyahuaccused by the Tribunal to commit war crimes in the Gaza Strip. The politician mentioned three reasons for such a decision. First of all, he said, Hungarians are not used to arresting their guests, and secondly – Israel is a friend of Hungary, and one of the government's most important tasks is to take care of friends; Thirdly – even if the authorities wanted to stop Netanyahu, they cannot give the police such a command, because the agreement regarding the jurisdiction of the MTK against Hungary was not included in Hungarian legislation.

“We can therefore say that the prime minister (Israel – PAP) is one hundred percent safe in Hungary,” said Orban.

Tomasz Dawid Jędruchów (PAP)

TDJ/ Szm/