Former Polish Justice Minister Zbigniew Ziobro, who was granted asylum in Hungary, has now traveled to the US on a visa issued by Donald Trump, writes Politico.
Ziobro has been in Hungary since 2025, when former Prime Minister Viktor Orbán granted him asylum. New Hungarian Prime Minister Péter Magyar had promised to initiate extradition proceedings for Ziobro upon taking office.
Ziobro is wanted in Poland for embezzlement, including using the funds to purchase spyware Pegasus, which can infect mobile phones. It was allegedly used to spy on political opponents. The former minister has denied the charges and called the investigation a political vendetta by Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk.
In an interview with the Polish right-wing broadcaster TV Republika on the evening of the 10th of May, the Pole confirmed his arrival in the US, saying that the US is freedom – a freedom that can really be fought for.
The Onet media outlet reported that Ziobro had received a journalist visa associated with TV Republika
to travel to the US, but the broadcaster has neither confirmed nor denied this. According to the Polish newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza, Trump personally approved Ziobro’s visa, despite objections from Secretary of State Marco Rubio and US Ambassador to Poland Tom Rose.
TV Republika announced during the interview that it had hired Ziobro as a US political correspondent.
Ziobro has called the charges fabricated and accused Tusk of interfering in the case, including while the former minister was protected by diplomatic immunity, posting on social media that Ziobro would be arrested. Ziobro pointed out that Tusk could not have made such posts in the US.
Polish Justice Minister Waldemar Żurek said on the 10th of May that his ministry would begin preparing extradition proceedings. The Foreign Ministry said it had no official information about Ziobro’s whereabouts, but that his Polish passport was invalid. Ziobro told TV Republika that he had been traveling with an asylum document issued by Hungary.
Read also: Hungary grants asylum to former Polish justice minister
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