Polish foreign ministry summons Hungarian ambassador over political asylum of former deputy minister accused of corruption

The Hungarian ambassador to Warsaw has been summoned over the political asylum Hungary granted to former Polish Deputy Justice Minister Marcin Romanowski.

– the Polish Foreign Ministry said on Friday, according to MTI.

The ministry's website reiterated the position taken by Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski on Thursday evening, saying that Warsaw considers the Hungarian government's decision "a hostile act towards the principles binding Poland and the European Union member states". A "formal statement of protest" will therefore be delivered to Hungary's ambassador in Warsaw on Friday. The Polish Foreign Ministry has also decided to summon Sebastian Keciek, the country's ambassador in Budapest home for consultations, they said. They also said that "if Hungary breaches its European commitments", Warsaw will turn to the European Commission to take action against Hungary under Article 259 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU.

According to information provided for Telex, Viktor Orbán spoke about the possibility of granting political asylum to "a Polish citizen" at a private event on 10 December. The Prime Minister did not name the individual at the time, but it was revealed on Thursday that the person in question is former Deputy Justice Minister Marcin Romanowski, a member of the opposition Law and Justice (PiS) party, who is suspected by the Polish prosecutor's office of involvement in an organised crime group, and whose immunity was suspended by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) on 2 October. The 11 corruption charges against the former Deputy Minister of Justice include the bodies under the ministry illegally using more than 10 billion forints' worth of Polish public funds from a judicial fund for purchasing, among other things, the Pegasus spy software.

Romanowski had been detained in July, but was released on the grounds of immunity as a member of the Polish delegation to PACE.

On Thursday, as he was leaving the European Council summit, Viktor Orbán was reluctant to comment on the case, saying only that "there is a legal process underway" in which he claimed he had no role. He also said that relations with the Poles were not good, and that their justice minister had "brutally attacked" the Hungarian government in Politico on Wednesday when he told the paper that, judging by the Polish example, it would be difficult for Hungary to return to the rule of law without a change of government.

Commenting on Orbán's explanation, his old adversary Donald Tusk told Polish journalists in Brussels on Thursday afternoon that the Hungarian PM was completely under the influence of Jarosław Kaczyński's interpretation of events in Poland. Tusk said that Orbán had confirmed to him the Hungarian government's intentions on the matter.

"I told him that in case the decision taken in Budapest would be contrary to European rights on political asylum or would not respect the European Arrest Warrant, which is in force in all EU member states, I would not be the one in a precarious position, but him."