Hungary’s ICC Withdrawal
What Hungary's ICC withdrawal could mean for the court's work.
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Welcome to IWPR’s Frontline Update, your go-to source to hear from journalists and local voices at the front lines of conflict.
THE BIG PICTURE
Hungary’s declaration that it will withdraw from the Rome Statute, the ICC’s founding treaty, highlights the challenges the court faces at a critical time for international justice.
Prime Minister Victor Orban made the announcement last week during a visit by Israeli leader Binyamin Netanyahu, wanted by the Hague-based court on war crimes charges.
VOICES FROM THE FRONTLINE
“This was not completely unexpected, but still shocking,” Tamas Hoffmann, a senior research fellow at Hungary’s Institute for Legal Studies, told IWPR. “It’s generated a lot of interest in the Hungarian media and many people are puzzled. There was no general desire to withdraw and there’s concern about the potential ramifications on Hungary.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin is also wanted by the ICC for war crimes in connection to the invasion of Ukraine, which Hoffmann said was “one of the most important reasons” for Hungary’s withdrawal.
“Orban would love to host a peace conference over Ukraine,” he continued. “However, I suspect that as long as Hungary remained a member that Putin would not come to Budapest, even with guarantees.”
WHY IT MATTERS
This is a time of renewed activity for the 124-member ICC, even as it faces pressure following President Donald Trump’s imposition of sanctions.
Since 2002, it has opened more than 30 cases for war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide, but targeted few senior global figures.
Most recently, former Philippines president Rodrigo Duterte was arrested for crimes against humanity in connection to his bloody crackdown against drugs.
“The executed arrest warrant on Duterte has a lot to do with Philippines domestic policy,” explained Hoffmann. “His daughter is the vice-president and there is an ongoing feud with the current president; so the ICC could be seen as a convenient instrument of political revenge.”
But although international justice can be politicised - Armenia, for instance, joined the ICC in 2023 as a calculated snub to its ally Russia - legitimate judicial processes remain central to resolving many conflicts worldwide.
THE BOTTOM LINE
Supporting international accountability has been key to IWPR since our founding amid the Balkan wars of the 1990s. We covered the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia from its inception, informing our work on justice processes, the aftermath of conflict and the impact on survivors. Currently, IWPR’s Ukraine Justice Monitor focuses on ongoing war crimes trials and attempts to bring senior Russian figures to justice.
As Yuriy Belousov, head of the war crimes department of Ukraine’s prosecutor general’s office, told IWPR recently, “we are unquestionably committed to ensuring that the highest-ranking war criminals are held accountable in international judicial institutions”.
Hoffmann said that Hungary’s decision could ultimately backfire.
“The ICC is an important institution in the liberal international legal order and a symbol to rally around at a time of increasing authoritarianism,” he continued. “This move could paradoxically reinforce the ICC, especially if other European countries unite.”
