Hungary stays in International Criminal Court

Why it matters

Hungary’s parliament voted on Wednesday to keep the country in the International Criminal Court, reversing the withdrawal process launched last year by former prime minister Viktor Orbán. The 199-member chamber voted 133 in favor, 37 against and five abstained on legislation submitted by Prime Minister Péter Magyar, according to parliamentary reporting cited by The Times of Israel. The vote came less than a week before Hungary’s planned exit from the court was due to take effect on June 2. The decision preserves Hungary’s status as a party to the Rome Statute, the treaty that created the court in The Hague. ### How did Hungary get to the brink of leaving the ICC? Viktor Orbán set the withdrawal in motion in 2025 after the ICC issued an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over alleged war crimes in Gaza, according to The Times of Israel and an Associated Press explainer carried by Arab News. Orbán announced the move while hosting Netanyahu in Budapest and called the tribunal a “political court,” those reports said. (timesofisrael.com) Hungary was still an ICC member at the time of that visit, which meant it faced obligations under the treaty even as Orbán challenged the court politically. Hungary signed the Rome Statute in 1999 and ratified it on Nov. 30, 2001, according to the Hungarian parliament’s published text of the treaty law and the AP explainer. The court itself began operating in 2002 as the permanent tribunal for genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and the crime of aggression. ### Why did the May 27 vote matter so much? (timesofisrael.com) June 2 was the key date. The Times of Israel reported that Orbán’s year-long withdrawal process was set to take effect then, and Magyar had promised after his April election victory to stop it before the deadline. Wednesday’s vote formally repealed the exit law and halted that process in parliament. (parlament.hu) Péter Magyar moved quickly after taking office. The Times of Israel reported that he submitted the bill on Monday and pushed it through under a fast-track procedure. The ICC’s legislative body, the Assembly of States Parties, welcomed the Hungarian government’s announcement last Friday that it would discontinue the withdrawal process, according to the same report. (timesofisrael.com) ### What does staying in the Rome Statute require Hungary to do? The Rome Statute says a state’s withdrawal takes effect one year after the United Nations secretary-general receives notice, according to the AP explainer. It also says obligations to cooperate continue for cases that were already under way while the country was still a party, University of Amsterdam professor Göran Sluiter told AP. That means a withdrawal announcement alone would not have erased Hungary’s duties immediately. (timesofisrael.com) Péter Magyar said on April 20 that Hungary would detain any person wanted by the ICC if that person entered Hungarian territory. “If someone is a member of the ICC and a person who is wanted enters the territory of our country, he or she must be detained,” he said, according to The Times of Israel’s live coverage. Magyar said at the time that his team had concluded Hungary could still stop the withdrawal. (arabnews.com) ### Does this settle the issue around Netanyahu’s travel? Benjamin Netanyahu’s April 2025 visit to Budapest became a test case because Hungary remained an ICC member while Orbán was denouncing the court. The AP explainer said other ICC members, especially in the European Union, were expected to press Hungary on its legal obligations. Human Rights Watch’s international justice director, Liz Evenson, told AP that EU member states committed to the court should press Hungary “hard” on meeting those obligations. (timesofisrael.com) The Times of Israel reported that Magyar has tried to balance support for ICC membership with assurances that Hungary will maintain close ties with Israel. On April 13, he said it was in Hungary’s interest to remain in the court while also calling Israel an important economic partner and pledging continued “zero tolerance” for antisemitism. (arabnews.com) ### What happens next in Budapest? President Tamás Sulyok now has to sign the repeal into law, according to The Times of Israel. If he does, Hungary will remain in the ICC and the June 2 withdrawal date will pass without the exit taking effect. The next formal step is therefore in the president’s office, with Sulyok deciding whether to enact parliament’s May 27 vote. (timesofisrael.com 1) (timesofisrael.com 2)

Key numbers

• Hungary’s parliament voted on May 27 to repeal Viktor Orbán’s ICC withdrawal law, backing Prime Minister Péter Magyar’s fast-tracked bill.
• The 199-seat chamber voted 133-37 with five abstentions, days before the withdrawal would have taken effect on June 2.
• The 199-member chamber voted 133 in favor, 37 against and five abstained on legislation submitted by Prime Minister Péter Magyar, according to parliamentary reporting cited by The Times of Israel.
• The vote came less than a week before Hungary’s planned exit from the court was due to take effect on June 2.

What happens next

• The Times of Israel reported that Orbán’s year-long withdrawal process was set to take effect then, and Magyar had promised after his April election victory to stop it before the deadline.
• Magyar said at the time that his team had concluded Hungary could still stop the withdrawal.
• The AP explainer said other ICC members, especially in the European Union, were expected to press Hungary on its legal obligations.

Sources

• timesofisrael.com
• parlament.hu
• arabnews.com
• timesofisrael.com
• timesofisrael.com 2

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