What can the Polish state do if Marcin Romanowski received asylum in Hungary? Lawyers asked by Konkret24 unanimously believe that the Polish prosecutor's office has no movement. She will have to wait until Romanowski leaves Hungary.
Attorney Bartosz Lewandowski, defender PiS MP and former deputy minister of justice Marcin Romanowski, announced on Thursday, December 19 in the evening, in a post on the X portal: “The Hungarian government has taken into account the request of the MP [Marcina Romanowskiego] and granted him international protection under the Asylum Act of 2007 in connection with the decisions taken by the Polish government and its subordinate [Prokuraturą Krajową] actions violating his rights and freedoms.
On that day, the National Prosecutor's Office, having received information that Romanowski had crossed the border, submitted an application for a European Arrest Warrant (EAW) against him to the District Court in Warsaw. Investigators also asked the national Interpol office to issue a red notice in the case of the former deputy minister of justice.
Let us remind you: Romanowski is a suspect in the investigation regarding the Justice Fund, the prosecutor's office wants to bring 11 charges against him. Last week, the District Court for Warsaw Mokotów decided on a three-month detention for Romanowski. The MP did not appear at the court hearing. On December 12, the prosecutor in charge of the investigation issued an arrest warrant for the MP. The nationwide search undertaken that day turned out to be ineffective, and it was not possible to determine Romanowski's whereabouts in the country. The arrest warrant stated: “The findings of the Warsaw Police Headquarters indicate that the suspect may be outside the country, probably in one of the European Union countries.”
According to attorney Lewandowskieg, “Romanowski asked the Hungarian authorities for protection in connection with politically motivated actions by the services and the PK, which resulted, among others, in unlawful deprivation of liberty and violation of international law.” Romanowski himself appeared live on wPolsce24 television in the evening, where he stated: “I have been recognized as a person at risk of political persecution in Poland under the rule of the December 13 coalition” and “we are dealing with a whole series of political repressions.”
The information that Romanowski is in Hungary was confirmed by the website's editorial staff mandiner.hu Gergely Gulyás, head of Prime Minister Viktor Orban's office: “The former Polish deputy minister actually came to Hungary and applied for political asylum from the Hungarian state. Asylum was granted to him in accordance with Hungarian and EU law.”
Another Hungarian portal reminded that Romanowski is not the first politician to hide in Hungary “after arriving from a European country” – former Prime Minister of North Macedonia Nikola Gruevski has been living there since 2018.
READ ALSO IN KONKRET24: He oversaw the Justice Fund. What do we know about Marcin Romanowski
If Marcin Romanowski receives international protection in Hungary, what can the Polish state do in such a situation?
Experts: the prosecutor's office must wait until Romanowski leaves Hungary
Questioned by Konkret24 on Thursday evening, experts initially point out that no official documents are known yet. However, if Viktor Orban's country granted the former deputy minister of justice asylum, Polish law enforcement agencies would have a very difficult situation.
– It is not yet known what the exact legal basis is, but we can expect a Hungarian court's decision that Marcin Romanowski will not be extradited to Poland under the EAW – comments Dr. Witold Zontek from the Department of Criminal Law of the Jagiellonian University. – If this happens, the Polish prosecutor's office has no move. She will have to wait until Romanowski leaves Hungary. Criminal proceedings in Poland may be suspended if there is a long-term obstacle preventing their conduct – he adds.
Attorney Zbigniew Kruger from the Krüger & Partners law firm has a similar opinion: – The Polish side cannot do anything about it. It can only take diplomatic and political actions. The MP's thread will probably be excluded from separate proceedings and suspended, he explains. But he emphasizes: – Asylum only works in Hungary. As soon as an MP sets foot abroad, he can be detained.
Attorney Kruger also draws attention to the new circumstance we are now dealing with: – For me, this case is bizarre. It turns out that you can get asylum because of various connections and acquaintances. This destroys the entire EAW system.
Dr. Katarzyna Gajowniczek-Pruszyńska, attorney-at-law, vice-dean of the District Bar Council in Warsaw, has a similar opinion: – The situation is unprecedented. It raises very serious concerns. Asylum was granted to a person who does not need it and who should not receive it because he is not politically persecuted.
The spokeswoman for the Prosecutor General, Anna Adamiak, asked on TVN24 shortly after the publication of the post by attorney Lewandowski what the prosecutor's office can do now, noted that “it is not entirely reliable information that (Romanowski – ed.) obtained asylum because he obtained it called international protection, which can undoubtedly be granted to him in such asylum proceedings. – However, for the Polish prosecutor's office it is simply information – she said. Recalling that a European Arrest Warrant for a PiS MP was issued on Thursday, she added: – Tomorrow this warrant will undoubtedly be found in the Schengen information system and Mr. Romanowski will be wanted on the basis of this warrant.
According to her, “even granting such protection to Romanowski or granting him the right of asylum in the territory of Hungary, due to the applicable provisions on the European Arrest Warrant, cannot prevent Hungary from carrying out the procedure related to this European arrest warrant.”
Doctor Katarzyna Gajowniczek-Pruszyńska specifies: – Neither the EAW nor the Interpol red notice have been finally introduced. It always takes time, documents have to be translated and everything has to be entered into the system. And if this happens, and Mr. Romanowski is actually in Hungary, he will have to live there, because any crossing of the border could result in his detention. The decision on asylum was made very quickly, and such proceedings usually take a long time. I think that Mr. Romanowski's support team started the entire procedure much earlier. This is checkmate for the Polish prosecutor's office. All that remains is political persuasion in the international arena, says the expert.
Przemysław Rosati, president of the Supreme Bar Council, commenting on the information about Romanowski in Hungary on TVN24, said that the Hungarian government's decision “opens the mechanism of international protection.” But he noted that international protection would not necessarily exempt Romanowski from responsibility in a Polish court. – It is not always the case that the participation of a suspect is necessary in the course of proceedings. Such proceedings are still ongoing unless it is necessary to perform procedural activities with the participation of the suspect and without these activities the proceedings cannot continue, he argued.
The president of the NRA admitted that the Hungarian government can only act on a strictly diplomatic basis regarding the possible extradition of Romanowski by the Hungarian government. – From the procedural point of view of Mr. Romanowski, a safe-conduct may come into play, i.e. an application submitted by either Mr. Romanowski or his defense attorney to the court for the issuance of a safe-conduct – he added.
Asylum in Hungary. The procedure takes several months
Those forced to flee their country because of human rights violations or persecution can apply for asylum in the EU. The 1951 Geneva Convention sets out the criteria for who should be considered a refugee. EU countries are parties to this convention and have an international obligation to provide protection to eligible persons.
The right to asylum and the right to subsidiary protection are guaranteed in article 18 and article 19 EU Charter of Fundamental Rights.
Hungarian law on the right of asylum of 2007 states that Hungary recognizes a foreigner as a refugee if he or she has experienced persecution in his or her country due to race, religion, membership in a particular social group, political opinion, or who has a well-founded fear of such persecution.
It is described on the website of the Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). Hungarian asylum procedure. An asylum application can be submitted at the Hungarian embassy or in Hungary. Then there is a conversation in the presence of an interpreter with an official who will ask about the problems the person submitting the application has experienced in the country of origin. According to information on the UNHCR website, the entire procedure takes about 2-3 months.
The decision on recognition as a refugee is indefinite. It is subject to mandatory review every three years. Refugees in Hungary generally have the same rights and obligations as Hungarian citizens, with a few exceptions. They can participate in local and local government elections, but not parliamentary ones. They cannot work in positions requiring Hungarian citizenship. They can apply for an ID card and a bilingual travel document. You can apply for Hungarian citizenship after three years of residence, instead of the usual eight years.
Main photo source: Tomasz Gzell/PAP