Hungary reverses course, stays in ICC

Prime Minister Péter Magyar said on May 22 that Hungary was rescinding its plan to leave the International Criminal Court, reversing a move announced by Viktor Orbán’s government during Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit to Budapest in April. Magyar said in a post on X that his government was also restoring a ban on agricultural imports from Ukraine. The decision keeps Hungary inside the Rome Statute system and leaves ICC arrest warrants, including those issued for Israeli officials, formally applicable in Hungary. It also unwinds what would have been one of the court’s most politically charged member exits. ### What exactly did Péter Magyar announce? Péter Magyar said on Friday that “the government withdraws Hungary’s intention to leave the International Criminal Court and bans the import of agricultural products from Ukraine,” according to his public statement and multiple reports. Meduza reported that the import ban had briefly lapsed because of a procedural error during the change of government. (yahoo.com) Government resolutions published in Hungary’s official gazette revoked the earlier termination steps tied to the ICC statute and the court’s privileges and immunities agreement, according to MTI reporting carried by DTEurope. That made the reversal more than a political signal: it restarted Hungary’s formal alignment with the court’s treaty framework. (jpost.com) ### Why was Hungary leaving the ICC in the first place? Viktor Orbán’s government announced in April 2025 that Hungary would leave the ICC as Netanyahu visited Budapest, even though the Israeli prime minister was the subject of an ICC arrest warrant. Hungary said at the time that Netanyahu would not be arrested during the trip. Article 127 of the Rome Statute gives member states a one-year withdrawal period after notification, and legal groups said Hungary would remain bound by ICC obligations until the withdrawal took effect. (dteurope.com) The American Society of International Law said Hungary’s exit had been expected to become effective on June 2, 2026. Amnesty International made the same point when it said withdrawal would not erase Hungary’s duty to cooperate while it was still a member. (jpost.com) ### Does this change the status of the warrants for Netanyahu and others? The Jerusalem Post reported that Hungary’s reversal means warrants for Israeli officials remain in force in Hungary because the country is staying in the ICC. That includes the warrant issued for Netanyahu and the warrant issued for former Israeli defense minister Yoav Gallant, both of whom the court accused in 2024 of war crimes and crimes against humanity in connection with the Gaza war, according to prior reporting cited in the search results. (asil.org) The legal position and the practical record are not the same. Netanyahu traveled to Budapest without being detained during Orbán’s tenure, and human rights groups said at the time that Hungary was still under an obligation to arrest him despite the pending withdrawal process. ### Why does the timing matter? April 3, 2025, was the day Orbán’s government said Hungary would quit the court as Netanyahu arrived in Budapest. (jpost.com) May 22, 2026, was the day Magyar said the notice would be withdrawn. That left less than two weeks before the previously expected June 2, 2026 withdrawal date. April 20, 2026, also mattered politically. (commondreams.org) Politico and Human Rights Watch reported that Magyar, then prime minister-elect, had said Hungary would have to detain ICC-wanted leaders if they entered the country and had pledged during the election campaign to reverse Orbán’s ICC exit. ### What else changed alongside the ICC decision? Hungary paired the ICC reversal with a renewed ban on Ukrainian agricultural imports. (aljazeera.com) Magyar presented the two steps together in the same statement, and Xinhua and Anadolu both reported the combined announcement from Budapest on May 22. Meduza said the Ukraine import restrictions had fallen away temporarily because of a procedural lapse during the handover to the new government. (politico.eu) The restoration put back a trade measure that had already been part of Hungary’s dispute with Kyiv and the European Union over farm imports. ### What happens next at the ICC? (aa.com.tr) June 2, 2026, had been the date Hungary’s withdrawal would have taken effect if the notice had remained in place, according to ASIL’s summary of the Rome Statute timetable. With the notice now withdrawn, Hungary remains a state party unless its government starts a new exit process. The next practical test will come if an ICC-wanted suspect travels to Hungary again. (meduza.io) Péter Magyar said before taking office that such a person “must be taken into custody” if Hungary remains a member, according to reports published in April. (msn.com) (asil.org)