Zelensky adviser: Hungary 'nullifies its reputation' supporting Russia

The adviser to Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Thursday that Hungary "nullifies its reputation" by supporting Russia despite its invasion of its neighbor, which has caused thousands of deaths and created the largest refugee crisis since World War II.

RF is an undeniable criminal country disgracefully going to the "bottom of history"...But Hungary repeatedly nullifies its reputation by directly supporting the ru-corpse. Rejecting even its signing of the Rome Statute...What for?

— Михайло Подоляк (@Podolyak_M) March 23, 2023

“RF is an undeniable criminal country disgracefully going to the ‘bottom of history,’” the advisor, Mykhailo Podolyak, wrote on Twitter.

“But Hungary repeatedly nullifies its reputation by directly supporting the ru-corpse. Rejecting even its signing of the Rome Statute... What for?”

Hungary says it would not arrest Russia's Vladimir Putin

Gergely Gulyas, the chief of staff of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, said on Thursday that Hungary would not arrest Russia's President Vladimir Putin if he entered the country, according to Reuters.

Hungary was among the signators of the Rome Statute, which created the International Criminal Court (ICC). On Friday, the ICC issued an arrest warrant for Putin on the grounds that he is suspected of the war crime of deporting hundreds of children from Ukraine.

“Incidents identified by my Office include the deportation of at least hundreds of children taken from orphanages and children’s care homes,” said ICC Prosecutor Karim A. A. Khan KC. “Many of these children, we allege, have since been given for adoption in the Russian Federation. The law was changed in the Russian Federation, through Presidential decrees issued by President Putin, to expedite the conferral of Russian citizenship, making it easier for them to be adopted by Russian families.”

The articles that Putin is accused of violating - articles 8(2)(a)(vii) and 8(2)(b)(viii) - are classified in the statute as crimes of aggression.

Article 8(2)(a)(vii) reads: “The invasion or attack by the armed forces of a State of the territory of another State, or any military occupation, however temporary, resulting from such invasion or attack, or any annexation by the use of force of the territory of another State or part thereof;”

Article 8(2)(b)(viii) reads: “Bombardment by the armed forces of a State against the territory of another State or the use of any weapons by a State against the territory of another State;”

Gulyas said that the Rome Statute had not been built into the Hungarian legal system and that the Hungarian government “had not formed a stance” on the arrest warrant for Putin, the Reuters report added.

“We can refer to the Hungarian law and based on that we cannot arrest the Russian President ... as the ICC's statute has not been promulgated in Hungary,” Gulyas said.

Reuters contributed to this report.