Hungary grants asylum to former Polish minister

Former Polish Justice Minister Zbigniew Ziobro announced on Monday that he has decided to accept the asylum granted to him by the Hungarian government.

"I have decided to take advantage of the asylum granted to me by the Hungarian government due to political repression in Poland," he wrote on the platform X.

His announcement comes after the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned the Hungarian ambassador on Friday to lodge a protest, following the granting of asylum to two Polish citizens by the Budapest government, whose identities were not disclosed. Hungary confirmed on Thursday that it had granted asylum to two Polish citizens, CE Report quotes AGERPRES.

Last autumn, the Polish prosecutor’s office requested the arrest of the former conservative justice minister, who fled to Hungary to avoid criminal prosecution for corruption.

Ziobro, one of the architects of judicial reforms that led to ongoing conflict between Warsaw and Brussels from 2015–2023, faces 26 criminal charges carrying a potential 25-year prison sentence. He is accused of organizing the embezzlement of a special fund intended to support crime victims, using it for political purposes, and illegally financing the acquisition of the Pegasus spyware program, manufactured in Israel and reportedly used to surveil political opponents, according to the current Polish government.

The former minister fled to Hungary last year and stated he has no intention of returning to Poland. He considers the charges against him politically motivated, part of a campaign of repression carried out through the judiciary by liberal Prime Minister Donald Tusk against opponents.

As reported by CE Report, one of Ziobro’s deputy ministers in the former Law and Justice (PiS) government, Marcin Romanowski, accused of similar offenses, has already received political asylum in Hungary, despite a European arrest warrant issued by Poland and strong protests from the Polish government against the Hungarian authorities.