Hungary has 60 days to hand over Marcin Romanowski, a wanted Polish Conservative (PiS) MP and former deputy justice minister, who was granted asylum in Hungary following a Polish court ruling on his detention over alleged defrauding of public funds.
European Commission spokesman Stefan de Keersmaecker said on December 20: “Under EU law, an asylum application from one EU country to another can only be granted in exceptional circumstances.” He implied that if Hungary did not comply with Poland’s international arrest warrant, it may face sanctions and legal action from European institutions.
On December 21, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said he felt that Romanowski “would not be the last example of Polish opposition officials claiming sanctuary in Hungary”.
Orbán has criticised the Tusk government’s actions with regard to the rule of law. On December 20, he told reporters that his country was open to those seeking protection from governments that repressed their opposition.
Member states of the European Union consider themselves to be safe in terms of protection of fundamental rights and freedoms and therefore mutual requests for legal assistance should automatically be complied with.
A Warsaw court on December 19 issued a European arrest warrant for Romanowski, who is facing 11 charges including allegations of embezzlement of around €25 million of public funds from the Justice Fund, a mechanism for helping the victims of crime.
The Romanowski case is part of a wider probe into alleged criminality during the eight-year rule of Poland’s Conservative (PiS) government between 2015 and 2023, with indictments being sought against more high ranking officials including former prime minister Mateusz Morawiecki.
It is alleged that Romanowski and other officials used resources from the Justice Fund to sponsor their party’s and its candidates’ election campaigns.
Tapes from the prosecutors’ investigation have been leaked containing recorded conversations between the officials in which they agreed on how the monies should be distributed.
The funds in question were allegedly not used for direct election campaigns but for the purchase of security equipment such as fire engines and to fund NGOs to help victims of crime.
Romanowski has denied the charges against him and has claimed that his case was politically motivated, with the government attempt to detain him being an act of “”vengeance” and an effort to show voters it was doing something about pursuing former PiS officials.
On December 19, Hungary confirmed it granted Romanowski political asylum. The move caused anger in Warsaw and further strained already-sour relations between Budapest and Warsaw.
The asylum decision was described by the Polish foreign ministry as being a “hostile act against both Poland and elementary principles binding on European Union member states” and Prime Minister Donald Tusk said: “Hungary would regret admitting a fugitive from Polish law.”
