Hungary willingly grants asylum to right-wing politicians prosecuted for corruption

This is a rare and even unprecedented move – this is how the Euronews website comments on Hungary's decision to grant asylum to the former Polish deputy minister of justice. Other foreign media also write about the unusual situation involving two EU countries.

“It is rare for another European country to agree to grant asylum to a fugitive wanted on the basis of a European Arrest Warrant,” we read in Euronews.

The portal emphasizes that the Hungarian Prime Minister largely avoided questions about this decision, leaving the European Council summit on Thursday. – I am not involved in this legal procedure. Do you have any other questions? – commented Viktor Orban.

The Euronews website also quotes arguments put forward by PiS that the new Polish government “is using the justice system to unfairly attack the opposition.”

“The government of Prime Minister Donald Tusk maintains that it has opened the way for prosecutors to investigate irregularities committed under the rule of the previous nationalist Law and Justice government, which would have previously been covered up,” reports Reuters, citing the position of the Polish authorities.

“Orban is a close ally of the right-wing Law and Justice party, which was removed from power by Prime Minister Donald Tusk's pro-European coalition,” reminds the Euractiv website. “All this has led to a rare legal dispute between two European Union member states,” the portal concludes.

German media write about the angry reaction of the Polish authorities to Hungary granting asylum to Marcin Romanowski.

“The Polish former deputy minister is wanted under a European Arrest Warrant on suspicion of corruption. Hungary should execute the order, but the man was granted asylum there. Warsaw sees it as a hostile act,” we read on the website of the weekly “Der Spiegel”.

Politico assesses directly – Orban infuriated Warsaw, and his decision led to another dispute between Poland and Hungary. “Tusk on Friday condemned Hungary's decision, comparing the government in Budapest to the dictatorship of Alexander Lukashenko in Belarus,” we read on the website.

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Bloomberg recalls the relations between the governments in Warsaw and Budapest in the past, and how they changed after the elections on October 15 last year.

“Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban was a long-time ally of the previous government in Poland when both countries were criticized by the European Union for undermining democracy,” Bloomberg notes.

“Since Donald Tusk took power, his government has helped restore Poland's access to billions of euros of aid blocked due to concerns about violations of the rule of law. Brussels continues to withhold EUR 20 billion of funds for Hungary,” we read on the website.

“Tusk has often criticized Orban for cozying up to the Russian president and his reluctance to provide military support to Ukraine,” Bloomberg adds. Another American business magazine – “Barron's” – mentions that this is not the first time that Hungary has provided shelter to Orban's foreign allies who are wanted in their own countries.

“In 2018, this Central European country granted asylum to former Prime Minister of North Macedonia Nikola Gruevski after he was sentenced to two years in prison for abuse of power. This year, former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro stayed for two days at the Hungarian embassy in Brazil in mid-February capital, because the police had previously confiscated his passport and arrested two associates,” says “Barron's”.

At the beginning of this year, the former president of Orlen, Daniel Obajtek, also stayed in Hungary until he became a member of the European Parliament, the media reminds. Foreign portals summarize that Hungary's latest move regarding Marcin Romanowski further deepens the rift between the former allies, as Budapest and Warsaw were once called.