Hungary will be obliged to arrest Putin even if it quits ICC — lawyer

She said this on Espreso TV.

"We shouldn't have inflated expectations. The U.S. is not a member of the International Criminal Court. Yes, for a long time they did cooperate with the ICC, including on efforts to hold Putin and Lvova-Belova accountable. But now, the U.S. administration has gone back to its usual stance. For them, the ICC simply doesn't exist. However, they still see the deportation of Ukrainian children as a crime, and that gives the U.S. grounds to prosecute Putin on their own," Rashevska said.

The lawyer explained that Hungary made a legal commitment to arrest Putin while it was still a member of the ICC.

"From a legal standpoint, Hungary is required to arrest Vladimir Putin. Whether or not Budapest leaves the ICC, the obligation remains. Hungary made that commitment as an ICC member. So even if they exit the ICC, the duty stays in place. It’s pretty straightforward. But the rest depends on our partners, especially the EU, and how much pressure they’re willing to apply on Hungary to follow through on its international obligations," she added.

Background

On April 1, Szabad Európa reported that Hungary’s Justice Minister told ambassadors at a closed meeting that the country would withdraw from the ICC.

On April 3, the head of the Prime Minister’s Office publicly announced that Hungary planned to leave the ICC. He said the government would launch the process according to constitutional and international legal procedures.

Later, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, speaking at a joint press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, said he was an expert on the ICC because “I was the prime minister who signed the document to join the International Criminal Court” in 2001. Now, according to Orbán, he would be the one to withdraw Hungary from it. Netanyahu responded with applause.

The Presidency of the Assembly of States Parties to the Rome Statute expressed concern over Hungary’s intention to leave the ICC. The country was urged to remain part of the Rome Statute, and a serious discussion on the issue was proposed.

On May 20, the National Assembly supported the Deputy Prime Minister's proposal to withdraw Hungary from the International Criminal Court.