Hungary Votes To Leave International Court

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News

JERUSALEM/BUDAPEST (Worthy News) – Hungary’s parliament approved legislation Tuesday to withdraw the country from the International Criminal Court (ICC) after Prime Minister Viktor Orbán condemned the institute’s alleged bias toward Israel.

Orbán’s government accused the ICC of being “political” when issuing an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on charges of “crimes against humanity” in Gaza.

Despite the ICC arrest warrant, Orbán warmly welcomed Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu in Hungary last month and announced he wanted to leave the court.

Soon after, the ICC wanted Hungary to explain why it failed to arrest Netanyahu when he visited Budapest and received a red carpet treatment.

Budapest openly rejected the idea of taking the Israeli leader into custody, calling the warrant “brazen, cynical and completely unacceptable.”

However, ICC judges initiated “non-compliance” proceedings against Hungary.

The ICC’s Presidency of the Assembly of State Parties also expressed concern about Hungary’s move to leave The Hague-based court.

‘PRINCIPLED DECISION’

Yet Netanyahu called Hungary’s decision to leave the ICC a “bold and principled decision”.

Hungary’s decision to leave the ICC will take at least a year to complete, according to experts.

It is set to become the first European country of the 125-member court to leave the global authority, making it the sole non-signatory within the European Union as well.

The court was set up over two decades ago to prosecute the world’s most serious criminal cases, such as crimes against humanity and genocide.

China, Russia, the United States, and Israel are not court members.

Israel has also strongly denied that it is involved in genocide.

It says the military focuses on eliminating Hamas after it killed 1,200 people, including pregnant women and babies, while abducting hundreds in Israel on October 7, 2023.

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