Hungary has granted asylum to former Polish justice minister Zbigniew Ziobro, widening the rift between Warsaw and Budapest, Reuters reports.
Poland, where right-wing forces lost power in 2023, has sought to prosecute the former justice minister who oversaw changes to the judicial system. The European Union has long said the changes undermined the rule of law in the country when Poland was led by the right-wing conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party.
Hungary, long ruled by Viktor Orban, has been a long-time PiS ally, although relations soured after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, as the Poles strongly support Ukrainians while the Hungarian government wants to maintain friendly relations with the Kremlin. Hungary has repeatedly accused the pro-European Polish government of persecuting political opponents.
Ziobro wrote on the X on the 12th of January that he had decided to accept the asylum offered by the Hungarian government due to political repression, and that he had also requested asylum for his wife.
After Hungary informed EU countries in early January that it had decided to offer political asylum to two Poles (it did not name specific people), Poland objected, and the
confirmation that Ziobro had been granted asylum drew ridicule from the Polish government.
Polish Interior Minister Tomasz Siemoniak wrote on X that the former justice minister was fleeing the Polish justice system like a coward, and that there was nowhere lower to fall.
Meanwhile, Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó confirmed that Budapest had approved some asylum applications from Poland, adding that many people in Poland were facing political persecution.
The pro-European government of Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk has promised to prosecute PiS members accused of undermining the justice system. Ziobro is the highest-ranking former official to be brought to the attention of prosecutors so far. He is accused of embezzling funds from a fund intended to provide assistance to crime victims, including using the funds to purchase spyware Pegasus, which can infect mobile phones. It was allegedly used to spy on political opponents.
Ziobro claims to be the victim of a political witch hunt because, while he was prosecutor general, he allegedly launched an investigation into individuals linked to Tusk.
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