New Hungarian Prime Minister Péter Magyar on Friday said that his government was reversing the country's withdrawal from the International Criminal Court (ICC).
Magyar said his "government withdraws Hungary’s intention to leave the International Criminal Court" in a post on social media platform X, without providing further details.
Since 2002, the Hague-based ICC has been prosecuting the most serious crimes such as genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity. Hungary was set to be the first and only EU country to leave the court.
Hungary, then under right-wing populist prime minister Viktor Orbán, announced plans to withdraw from the Rome Statute, the ICC's founding treaty, in April 2025 and its parliament approved the decision in May. The withdrawal was due to take effect on June 2, 2026.
Orbán announced the move during a visit by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Budapest.
Netanyahu is wanted by the ICC on charges of alleged war crimes committed by Israeli troops against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. Orbán had made it clear before the visit that Hungary would ignore the arrest warrant.
Orbán and other members of his government justified the planned withdrawal from the ICC with the arrest warrants for Netanyahu and former Israeli defence minister Yoav Gallant.
"This court has been degraded to a political tool," Orbán claimed in the presence of his visitor Netanyahu in April 2025.
