2024-12-07 20:41:00
Defying the International Criminal Court (ICC) warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Hungary has extended an invitation to him to visit their country. The offer has been accepted by Israeli PM’s Office.
The move comes after the ICC issued warrants against Netanyahu, a former Israeli Defence Minister and a leader of the Palestinian militant group Hamas for alleged crimes against humanity.
Hungarian President Viktor Orban claimed that the warrant ‘discredits international law’ and ‘interferes in an ongoing political conflict in legal disguise but with political aims’.
There have been divergent reactions among EU member States to the warrant. EU heavyweights France and Germany have failed to clearly state if they would execute the warrants. Josep Borrell, EU’s foreign policy chief, said that the EU had not shown the same indecision when the ICC issued a warrant for Vladimir Putin’s arrest over the invasion of Ukraine. He also rejected Israel’s accusation that the warrants are ‘anti-semitic’.
All EU member States are signatories to the ICC’s founding treaty, called the Rome Statute. Borrell has highlighted that all signatories to the Rome convention are obliged to implement the ICC decision.
“The arrest warrants issued by the court have to be implemented by Hungary and all EU members. If they don’t, there is a legal case of non-fulfilment of legal obligation,” he said.
