Hungary Leaves the ICC: What are The Implications?

The Hungarian government has announced its withdrawal from the International Criminal Court (ICC) in a move that coincides with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit to Budapest. At a press conference with the Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, Netanyahu, who has been subject to an arrest warrant issued by the ICC since last year, welcomed the decision. European commentators analyse the situation.

Orbán no longer belongs in the EU

Europeans have cause for concern, says Der Spiegel (Germany):

“The European Union was built as a peace project based on values and norms. In a world that resembles a jungle, in which the law of the jungle applies first, it will have trouble surviving. In this situation, every country must ask itself which side it is on. On the side of democracies that respect the law, or on the other side. Viktor Orbán has clearly made his decision. He no longer has any place in the EU.”

Axis of a West that fights back

Welt editor, Ulf Poschardt, (Germany) praises Orbán’s stance:

“The Criminal Court’s prejudgement of Netanyahu, a politician who is robustly defending his country, was an objectionable scandal, particularly (but not only) due to the implicit equation with Hamas’s terrorist leaders. German foreign policy, which applies and removes its reason of state like make-up, has once again failed - and, as almost always, it is the US and this time also Orbán, who have stood by Netanyahu. ... Here, Netanyahu and Orbán stand for a defence-orientated West that takes the threat posed by the Islamist fascists seriously and fights to eliminate it.”

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Indifferent to genocide

The Hungarian government’s attitude to genocide has been inappropriate for some time now, writes journalist Boróka Parászka (Hungary) on Facebook:

“What message is the Hungarian government sending with this decision? That it doesn’t want to be involved in exposing genocides. ... If it had its way, everyone could simply commit genocide as they see fit and to the extent that their armed forces, their bloodthirstiness and their unscrupulousness allow it. ... The Hungarian government has not recognised the Armenian genocide. ... [Hungary] was the only EU and Nato member state not to join the UN declaration recognising the Srebrenica massacre as genocide. And it was the Hungarian prime minister who hastily and resolutely claimed that Putin was not a war criminal.”

Arbitrary and biased

The pro-government Magyar Nemzet (Hungary) ustifies the withdrawal:

“It’s scandalous that even before the fighting has ended and without any proper investigation or independent, impartial international enquiry, a panel of people - supposedly all with law degrees - is accusing the leaders of the country under attack of committing war crimes. And meanwhile, it literally regurgitates the propaganda of Hamas, the warring faction that perpetrated the terrorist attack, which despite the ceasefire agreement has yet to release some hostages, including a Hungarian citizen. Hungary clearly has no place in such an arbitrary and biased political club.”

A stain on Europe’s image

Hungary is undermining international law, De Volkskrant c(Netherlands) omplains:

“Orbán is giving the international legal system the middle finger like an out and out autocrat. ... Hungary has become a stain on the EU’s reputation. For years it has been clear that Viktor Orbán doesn’t subscribe to the bloc’s values, ignores its laws and holds autocratic leaders like Vladimir Putin in higher esteem than the democratic values that Europe stands for. ... Even if there are other member states that stand firmly behind Israel, it’s most regrettable that Hungary is undermining international law in this way and dividing the EU from within.”

Is Netanyahu just as bad as Putin?

The International Criminal Court does have double standards which justify Hungary’s withdrawal, Lidové noviny argues (Czech Republic):

“If you compare the arrest warrants against Netanyahu and Putin, you can’t help but notice a contradiction. From the perspective of global justice, the leader of a country that fights back against Hamas terrorists - fiercely and causing great losses among Palestinian civilians - is in the same boat as the leader of a country that, for more than ten years, has been engaged in an attack on a sovereign UN member state, Ukraine - a full-scale attack since February 2022. Does that show a sense of justice? Or a certain bias?”