Published December 19, 2024 at 9:20 p.m.
Foreign Affairs. Hungary has decided to grant political asylum to the internationally wanted Polish opposition politician Marcin Romanowski – something that is provoking strong reactions in Warsaw.
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Marcin Romanowski was deputy justice minister in the conservative Polish government from 2019 to 2023 and is accused of, among other things, attempted embezzlement.
“This is political asylum that can be granted if it cannot be guaranteed that someone’s case will be handled impartially and free from political influence in their home country,” said Gergely Gulyas, chief of staff to Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, according to AFP.
Poland’s Deputy Interior Minister Wieslaw Szczepanski announced that Poland would take action against its Hungarian neighbor and demand intervention from the EU.
“We will turn to the European Commission to pursue the case before the European Court of Justice. Possibly, economic sanctions could force Hungary to extradite him,” Szczepański said in an interview with TVN24.
He emphasizes that Hungary is violating EU rules and its own commitments to respect European arrest warrants.
“Hostile action”
Romanowski, who represents the conservative Polish party Law and Justice, has been wanted in Poland and now also via a European arrest warrant. The decision to grant him asylum is described by Poland's Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski as “a hostile act against Poland and the principles of the EU”.
Sikorski also announced that the Polish government will make a decision on the matter on Friday.
“We take Hungary's decision seriously and will act accordingly,” he wrote on X.
Poland's attorney general emphasizes that the asylum decision should not prevent Hungary from fulfilling its obligations under European law.
Relations between Warsaw and Budapest have been tense for some time, including due to disagreements over the Ukraine war, not least since the left-liberal government took over in Poland.