The withdrawal of a State Party from the International Criminal Court (ICC) “undermines our common quest for justice and weakens our resolve to fight impunity”, said the Presidency of the Assembly of States Parties to the Rome Statute on Thursday 3 April, following the announcement by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán that Hungary was withdrawing from the Rome Statute (ICC).
Taking the view that every State Party to the ICC has the right to express its concerns, the Presidency of the Assembly “strongly” encouraged Hungary to engage in a constructive debate, in a press release, while noting that, at the end of 2024, the Hungarian authorities had reconfirmed their “unwavering support for the Court as an independent and impartial judicial institution”.
It went on to point out that withdrawal from the Rome Statute does not automatically release a State Party from its obligations under the Statute of Rome.
On Thursday, Mr Orbán, who signed his country’s accession in 2001, justified his decision in the name of defending the rule of law, for which his country is in the spotlight. He accused the ICC of having become “a political court” because of the “witch-hunt” it was allegedly conducting against Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu.
The Hungarian Prime Minister officially announced this decision during an official visit to Budapest by the Israeli leader, who is the subject of an international arrest warrant issued by the ICC for crimes committed by Israel in the war it has been waging against the Hamas terrorist group in Gaza since October 2023.
Israel and the United States have never been parties to the Rome Statute since the creation of the ICC.
The Belgian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Maxime Prévot, noted that Hungary would become the only EU Member State not to be party to the Rome Statute. On the X network, he described the move as a “major setback” in the fight against impunity for the most serious crimes, which “paves the way for a world where might makes right”.
Asked in Brussels about Hungary’s failure to arrest Mr Netanyahu, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock described it as “a bad day for international justice”, saying that in the EU “no one should be above the law”. On X, the Lithuanian Foreign Minister said that Hungary’s withdrawal from the ICC “violates the rule of law”.
As of Friday, neither the Presidents of the European Commission, the European Council and the European Parliament, nor the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs had officially reacted.
Several human rights organisations have condemned Mr Orbán’s decision. For the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), Hungary’s withdrawal from the ICC, which joins a move already undertaken by Burundi and the Philippines, constitutes an “assault” on international justice.
“And it is a complete myth that democracies are immune from atrocities or from failing to hold their own leaders accountable. Which is precisely why the ICC must step in”, said its representative at the ICC.
The FIDH is calling on the EU Member States meeting at the General Affairs Council on Tuesday 27 May, which will be examining the rule of law in Hungary, to conclude that Hungary has acted in breach of fundamental European values and to open the way to sanctions such as the suspension of voting rights in the EU Council.
Amnesty International has called on EU institutions and countries to be “unequivocal” about the nature of Mr Netanyahu’s visit to Budapest. This is “a direct attack by Hungary aimed at [...] weakening the European Union at a time when it needs to be strong and united, and [an] insult to all the victims who are seeking justice”, it said. And it urged the EU and the countries that are party to the ICC to stop this “moral bankruptcy before it causes further damage to the rules-based international order”. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)