vote formalises a process

Hungary’s parliament approved a bill on Tuesday that would kickstart the country’s year-long withdrawal from the International Criminal Court (ICC).

The vote formalises a process started in early April by Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who announced his country would quit the global court that prosecutes those accused of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide.

“Hungary firmly rejects the use of international organisations – in particular criminal courts – as instruments of political influence,” the bill, submitted by Deputy Prime Minister Zsolt Semjen, made public on parliament’s website, said.

According to Orbán, the court is no longer “impartial” but rather a “political court

Budapest has rejected the ICC’s arrest warrant against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is being sought for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.

According to the warrant, Netanyahu should be threatened with arrest in ICC member countries such as Hungary.

In March, Hungary defied the warrant when Netanyahu arrived in Budapest for a rare trip abroad. The ICC initiated non-compliance proceedings against Hungary in response.

Budapest has openly rejected the idea of arresting the Israeli leader and called the warrant “brazen, cynical and completely unacceptable.”

Netanyahu, in turn, called Hungary’s decision to leave the ICC a “bold and principled decision”.

Hungary’s decision to leave the ICC will take at least a year to complete. In withdrawing, Hungary is set to become the first European country of the 125-member court to leave the global authority, and will make it the sole non-signatory within the EU as well.

The court was set up over two decades ago to prosecute the world’s most serious criminal cases, such as crimes against humanity and genocide. China, Russia, the US and Israel are not members of the court.