Hungary finally abandons its plan to withdraw from the International Criminal Court

The Hungarian Parliament has rejected the plan to withdraw Hungary from the International Criminal Court (ICC), ending an initiative backed by former Prime Minister Viktor Orban after arrest warrants were issued for Israeli leaders.

During the vote, 133 out of 199 members of parliament voted against withdrawing from the Rome Statute, the founding treaty of the ICC. Thirty-seven parliamentarians voted in favor of withdrawal, and five abstained. The withdrawal from the international jurisdiction was initially scheduled to take effect on June 2.

The Hungarian government announced in April 2025 its intention to withdraw from the ICC, accusing the institution of having become "political" following the arrest warrants issued in November 2024 against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. Both are wanted for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity related to the conflict in the Gaza Strip.

At the time, several Hungarian officials strongly criticized the Court based in The Hague. Deputy Prime Minister Zsolt Semjen denounced the use of international organizations as "political tools," while Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto stated that Hungary "no longer had a place" in an institution deemed "unserious."

Hungary signed the Rome Statute in 1999 before ratifying it in 2001, during Viktor Orban's first term. Budapest, however, had regularly asserted that certain provisions of the ICC raised questions about their compatibility with the Hungarian Constitution.

Established in 2002, the International Criminal Court (ICC) is mandated to prosecute alleged perpetrators of genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes when national jurisdictions are unable or unwilling to act. Israel, the United States, Russia, and China are not member states of the ICC. To date, only Burundi and the Philippines have officially withdrawn from the international jurisdiction.