By 
Laetitia Merhi
Nikolai Kolosov on Pexels, 2021.
The Hungarian Parliament voted to withdraw from the ICC, starting a year-long process.
On April 29th, 2025, Hungary’s Parliament voted to withdraw from the International Criminal Court (ICC). On X, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said the country refused to participate in a politicised institution that had lost its impartiality. The move echoes an earlier statement by Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who stressed that the ICC had become a political court in recent years. According to Article 127 of the Rome Statute, once Budapest officially notifies the United Nations Secretary-General of its decision, withdrawal from ICC jurisdiction will take a year. Hungary would then become the only European Union member state that is not a party to the Rome Statute. In the meantime, the country remains bound by the obligations arising from the Statute.
The vote was welcomed by Israeli officials, with Foreign Minister Gideon Saar praising Hungary’s “clear moral stance” and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu extending his heartfelt gratitude for the country’s withdrawal from the “corrupt ICC”. Netanyahu also advocated for other countries with “moral clarity” to follow Hungary’s lead.
Hungary initially announced its intention to leave the Court on April 3rd during a visit by Netanyahu. Netanyahu and former Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant face ICC arrest warrants for war crimes in the Gaza Strip. Upon Netanyahu’s arrival in Budapest, the ICC sent Hungary a request for his provisional arrest, which the country defied. The Court later gave Hungary until May 23rd to explain why it did not enforce the warrant.
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