Hungary votes to withdraw from International Criminal Court: 'We refuse to be part of a politicized institution that has lost its impartiality and credibility'

Hungary's Parliament approved Tuesday a proposal by Prime Minister Viktor Orbán's government to begin the process of withdrawing the country from the International Criminal Court (ICC), based in The Hague.

The decision, backed by a parliamentary majority, makes Hungary the first member of the European Union (EU) to take this step since the court's creation in 2002, intensifying Budapest's estrangement from Western multilateral institutions.

Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó welcomed the resolution and sharply criticized the ICC, calling it a "politicized institution that has lost its impartiality and credibility."

In a message posted on social networks, Szijjártó stated, "With this decision, we refuse to be part of a politicized institution that has lost its impartiality and credibility.”

The decision comes against a backdrop of high diplomatic tension, following the recent issuance by the ICC of an arrest warrant against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity related to Israel's military offensive in the Gaza Strip.

The Hungarian parliamentary approval comes weeks after Netanyahu's official visit to Budapest, where he was received without objection by the Orbán government.

From Israel, Foreign Minister Gideon Saar expressed his thanks to Hungary for what he described as a "clear moral position."

The resolution has been interpreted as a gesture of indirect support for Israel, which is not a party to the Statute of Rome, the ICC's founding treaty, and which has criticized the court's investigations into its actions in the Palestinian territories.

ICC withdrawal will not be immediate

According to the Rome Statute, withdrawal will not become effective until one year after formal notification, and legal obligations acquired during its membership of the court will remain in force.

European Union reaction

The EU responded by defending the independence of the ICC. At a press conference in Brussels, the bloc's foreign spokesman, Anouar El Anouni, said, "We support the International Criminal Court and the principles that have been set out in the Rome Statute. These respect the independence and impartiality of the court and are firmly committed to international criminal justice and the fight against impunity."

The spokesman avoided commenting on the possible legal consequences of the Hungarian decision, but recalled that European treaties oblige Hungary to support "actively and without reservation" the EU's foreign and security policy, in a "spirit of loyalty and mutual solidarity."

A further step in distancing itself from Orbán

The move reinforces Orbán’s government's tendency to defy Western multilateral structures, a line that has marked its policy on issues such as migration, judicial reforms and diplomatic relations. The withdrawal from the ICC, if realized, would mark a milestone in this strategy, positioning Hungary as a unique case within the EU.

Meanwhile, the decision underscores the growing friction between Budapest and EU institutions at a time of global geopolitical complexity.