"The government will initiate the withdrawal process on Thursday, in accordance with the constitutional and international legal frameworks," writes Prime Minister Viktor Orbán's chief of staff Gergely Gulyás in a statement.
Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu landed in Hungary on Thursday morning and received a warm welcome – despite being subject to an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court (ICC).
You have just taken a bold and principled stance regarding the ICC and I thank you, Viktor... it is important for all democracies. It is important to stand up against this corrupt organization, says Netanyahu at a press conference together with Orbán in Budapest on Thursday.
Netanyahu and Orbán later spoke by phone with US President Donald Trump about Hungary's decision to leave the ICC, according to an email from the Israeli government's press department.
First Trip
As a signatory to the court's founding document, the Rome Statute, the country is legally bound to arrest Netanyahu. But Hungary has chosen to leave the ICC. The process is expected to take around a year.
The ICC regrets Hungary's decision and says in a statement that "justice requires our unity."
Sweden's Foreign Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard views the message seriously, she tells TT during the NATO meeting in Brussels.
We are in a time when the rule-based world order that the courts are set to protect is under increasing pressure. Then it is more important than ever that we – and the EU member states – stand up for international law and its enforcement, which the courts are a guarantee for.
Never before has an EU country invited a war crimes suspect, says the Foreign Minister.
The trip to Hungary is Netanyahu's first to a European country since the order against him and the former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant was issued in November.
Starvation as a Weapon
Viktor Orbán, who invited Netanyahu shortly after the ICC's decision, has previously guaranteed that Hungary will ignore the arrest warrant.
According to the ICC, the two men should be arrested for war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Gaza Strip. They are suspected, among other things, of intentionally attacking civilians and using starvation as a weapon by restricting the import of humanitarian aid to Gaza.
Israel has rejected the allegations and called the court's decision "anti-Semitic".
The ICC also issued an arrest warrant against the militarily designated Hamas military chief Mohammed Dayf, who was later confirmed dead.
