Hungary would not hand over Russian President Vladimir Putin to the International Criminal Court if he entered its territory for lack of a legal basis, Prime Minister Viktor Orban's chief of staff said on Thursday March 23.
This country has signed the Rome Statute, an international treaty that created the ICC in 1999, ratified two years later, during the first term of Viktor Orban.
We don't have the necessary laws to arrest the Russian president.
Gergely Gulyas, Chief of Staff to the Prime Minister
But "
we do not have the laws necessary to arrest the Russian president
" because, today, the text "
would be contrary to the Constitution
" if it were transposed into national law, explained Gergely Gulyas to journalists in Budapest, without other details.
Vladimir Putin is accused of war crimes for the deportation of Ukrainian children.
This arrest warrant, issued Friday by the ICC, goes “
in the direction of escalation rather than in that of peace
”, hammered Gergely Gulyas, judging it “
regrettable
”.
Neither the United States nor Russia, which rejects the allegations of war crimes, recognize the jurisdiction of the ICC, he also recalled.
Read alsoHungarian Viktor Orban does not want to let go of Moscow
123 States Parties to the Rome Statute
According to the prosecutor of this jurisdiction, Karim Khan, Vladimir Putin is liable to arrest if he travels to one of the 123 countries that are parties to the Rome Statute, as ICC member states are required to execute the warrants of stop.
ICC President Piotr Hofmanski, however, acknowledged that the execution of the warrants “
depends on international cooperation
”.
In the past, former Sudanese leader Omar al Bashir has traveled to several member states despite an arrest warrant.
Viktor Orban has drawn strong criticism from his partners in the EU by refusing to send arms to Ukraine and by criticizing the sanctions against Russia.
