Polish official says Hungary is closer to Russia than EU
The Polish justice minister and prosecutor general has told Reuters that the Hungarian government is closer to Moscow than to Brussels and that Hungarian PM Viktor Orban wants to blow up the EU from within.
"It looks to me today as if Hungary's leadership is closer to the leadership in Moscow than the EU leadership, and I say this with great sadness and also with great concern," Waldemar Zurek said in an interview published on Thursday, adding that Orban's pro-Russian policy was unacceptable for EU citizens.
According to Reuters, Zurek expressed frustration with Budapest when asked about two former Polish officials - former justice minister Zbigniew Ziobro and former deputy justice minister Marcin Romanowski - charged with misuse of the Justice Fund who are being protected by the Hungarian authorities.
Poland will decide in the coming weeks whether to issue a European Arrest Warrant (EAW) for Ziobro, Reuters wrote.
Polish prosecutors accuse Ziobro of "founding and leading an organised criminal group" that defrauded PLN 150 million (EUR 35.23 mln) during his tenure as justice minister in 2015-2023. Prosecutors allege the group embezzled funds from the justice ministry's Justice Fund, a special reserve designed to assist victims of crime.
Hungary has already granted political asylum to Romanowski, who is accused of having operated in the same crime group.
Zurek said that "EAW is an agreement between all EU countries that we respect and have confidence in our own national justice systems...," and added that the situation in which Hungary said 'we are granting asylum to Mr. Romanowski', was, in his opinion, violating this EU agreement.
He added that it would likely be necessary to examine the actions of the Hungarian state. "And perhaps Poland will be forced to expose this abnormal situation on the European forum, where Hungary is breaking the rules of the EAW by granting asylum," Zurek concluded. (PAP)
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