Hungary Offers Asylum to Former Polish Justice Minister Amid Political Strife

Political Asylum and EU Relations

By Pawel Florkiewicz

Background on Zbigniew Ziobro

WARSAW, Jan 12 (Reuters) - Hungary has granted Poland's former justice minister asylum, he said on Monday, as the architect of judicial reforms that pushed Warsaw into years of conflict with the EU seeks to avoid abuse of power charges he calls politically motivated.

Allegations Against Ziobro

The case underlines the deepening rift between two EU and NATO members once seen as close allies, adding to turbulence in a region where the war in Ukraine and changes in U.S. foreign policy under Donald Trump have upended old certainties.

Reactions from Polish Officials

"I decided to take advantage of the asylum granted to me by the Hungarian government due to political repressions in Poland," former Justice Minister Zbigniew Ziobro wrote on X.

Impact on Hungary-Poland Relations

ALLEGED MISUSE OF PUBLIC MONEY

Prime Minister Donald Tusk's pro-EU government has vowed to see figures linked to the former nationalist Law and Justice (PiS) administration accused of wrongdoing brought to justice.

Ziobro, the most high-profile figure targeted by prosecutors so far, is accused of misuse of money from the Justice Fund, designed to help victims of crime, including for the purchase of the sophisticated Pegasus spyware system. Prosecutors say that was used against domestic political opponents.

Ziobro says he is the victim of a political witch hunt because as prosecutor general he launched investigations into people close to Tusk.

He said on Monday that he had also applied for asylum for his wife. On Friday Poland summoned the Hungarian ambassador after reports Budapest had granted asylum to two unnamed Poles.

In 2024, Hungary angered Poland by giving asylum to Marcin Romanowski, a former deputy justice minister in the PiS government, who is also accused of misuse of public funds.

The Hungarian government did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Members of Poland's ruling coalition were quick to condemn the tough-talking former minister's decision to seek safety abroad rather than face charges at home.

"The former Minister of Justice fleeing like a coward from the Polish justice system. A total downfall!" said the Minister in charge of Special Services Tomasz Siemoniak in a post on X.

(Reporting by Pawel Florkiewicz and Karol Badohal in Warsaw, Anita Komuves in Budapest, Writing by Alan Charlish; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne)