EU law professor on asylum for Ziobro: Hungary made “excellent” use of a legal loophole

Hungary “excellently” used a loophole in EU law to justify asylum for Zbigniew Ziobro, law professor Dimitry Kochenov from the Central European University (CEU) told PAP. This is an exception in the so-called Aznar protocol. According to the lawyer, Ziobro may leave the EU on the so-called Geneva passport.

Has Hungary broken EU law?

Kochenov, who works at the Democratic Institute at CEU in Budapest, believes that – contrary to most legal opinions – Hungary most likely did not break EU law by granting asylum to the former PiS minister of justice and current MP of this party. The defense of Ziobro, against whom criminal proceedings are being conducted in Poland, announced on Monday that he had been granted asylum. On Thursday, Justice Minister Waldemar Żurek did not rule out a complaint against Budapest to the Court of Justice of the EU.

As the law professor pointed out, the ability of a citizen of one EU Member State to apply for asylum in another Member State has been limited by the so-called the Aznar Protocol to the EU Treaty. The document, named after former Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar, states that all Member States should be considered safe and that asylum applications from nationals of other Member States can only be considered in exceptional situations.

Kochenov pointed out that the protocol indicates only three such situations: :

1. violation by a member state of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights,
2. the procedure conducted against this country for violating the rule of law pursuant to Art. 7 of the Treaty on EU
3. a decision by a Member State to examine an asylum application from a national of another Member State.

This third exception to the protocol reads as follows: “(…) a Member State shall unilaterally take such a decision in relation to an application by a national of another Member State; in such a case the Council of the EU must be notified immediately; such an application must be examined on the presumption that it is wholly unfounded, without thereby in any way affecting the decision-making powers of that Member State.”

– The Protocol therefore informs the Member States about the EU gold standard, which is the assumption of the impossibility of applying asylum protection to citizens of other Member States – said the law professor. He noted that the protocol clearly indicates that the EU does not have exclusive powers in this field, but shares them with states.

Hungary took advantage of a legal loophole

Hungary fulfilled its obligation to notify the EU Council (a body composed of ministers of member states) on December 23, 2025, by informing about the granting of asylum to two Polish citizens, have just invoked the third exception, the so-called Aznar protocol.

In Kochenov's opinion, this is a loophole in EU law that Hungary has exploited “excellently”.

– Most of the comments I have seen claim that Hungary is violating the law, but I would nuance the situation more. Hungary is indeed violating the principle of mutual trust in the EU, but – in my opinion – there has been no violation of the law. The protocol clearly authorizes member states to make decisions at the national level in a way that deviates from the assumptions contained in the protocol, argued the law professor.

In his opinion, however, it is possible that Hungary violated the provisions regarding the European Arrest Warrant (EAW) because it prevented Poland from bringing justice. They have invoked a law established in good faith to use it precisely contrary to the purpose for which it was adopted. The professor pointed to the law adopted in Hungary at the end of last year, which prevents the extradition of persons wanted by EAW if they have refugee status.

Kochenov also said that Ziobro can use the travel document provided for in the Geneva Convention to travel outside the EU. All people with refugee status receive such a document; Ziobro also received it from the Hungarian authorities. – In principle, it entitles asylum seekers to move and even allows them to change their name for this purpose – he added.

The case of Zbigniew Ziobro

On Monday, attorney Bartosz Lewandowski, one of the defenders of the former PiS government minister, announced that Ziobro “obtained international protection and political asylum in Hungary in connection with violations of rights and freedoms on the territory of Poland, guaranteed by international law.” Later on the same day, he said that the PiS MP would receive a travel document provided for in the Geneva Convention, which would enable him to travel.

Ziobro is under investigation by the National Prosecutor's Office, which accuses him of leading an organized criminal group and using his position for criminal activities. Ziobro allegedly committed 26 crimes, including: give orders to his subordinates to break the law in order to provide selected entities with subsidies from the Justice Fund, interfere in the preparation of competition offers and allow funds to be awarded to unauthorized entities.

From Brussels Magdalena Cedro (PAP)

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