Hungary has a duty to stop Putin

If Russian President Vladimir Putin visits Hungary, that country has an “obligation” to arrest him. So says foreign commentator Bernard Hammelburg. Hungary is indeed a member of the International Criminal Court in The Hague (ICC), which has issued an arrest warrant against Putin, underlines Hammelburg.

Gergely Gulyas, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s chief of staff, said on Thursday that the country would not cooperate with an arrest of Putin if the president sets foot on Hungarian soil. “If we look at Hungarian law, we see that we cannot arrest the Russian president, because the statute has not been introduced in Hungary.”

Read also | Hungary refuses to arrest Putin during his visit

This decision would not comply with the rules of the International Criminal Court. Recognizing the ICC, Hungary must also apply the rules of the instance. Every member country of the ICC has a duty to arrest Putin if he appears there. (…). Formally, Hungary has a duty to arrest someone if an arrest warrant is pending, in this case against Putin,” Hammelburg says.

The foreign commentator finds the statement of Orbán’s chief of staff special. “He could have kept this a secret, because the chances of that happening are very low.” But Hammelburg stresses that there is a political reason for the decision. This too is political. The fact that this is said shows that Hungary thinks very differently from the EU and NATO.

Read also | International Criminal Court issues arrest warrant for Putin

Illegal deported children

The arrest warrant for Putin follows an ICC investigation into hundreds of illegally deported Ukrainian children. According to the ICC, there are “reasons to believe” that Putin bears individual responsibility. Putin is only the third sitting president to face an arrest warrant from the ICC. However, it is unlikely that he will actually be arrested.