Hungary sparks row with Poland by granting asylum to ex-minister

Poland has accused Hungary of acting harshly in granting immunity to Poland’s deputy justice minister who is accused of embezzlement.

Marcin Romanowski, 48, faces 11 charges in Poland, including embezzling or embezzling $40m (£32m; €39m) from a justice fund aimed at helping victims of crime when he was deputy minister of justice under Law and Justice the previous one. – the leading government between 2019 and 2023.

“We consider the decision of Viktor Orban’s government to grant political protection to M.Romanowski, who is suspected of criminal charges and wanted under the European Arrest Warrant, to be against the Republic of Poland and the principles of the European Union,” he said. Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski wrote on X Thursday night.

“Tomorrow we will announce our decision.”

On Friday, the Foreign Ministry said it would summon Hungary’s ambassador to the country and ask the European Commission to initiate legal action against Budapest if it fails to meet the EU’s demands.

Mr Romanowski was in charge of the justice fund under the previous government which lost power in the 2023 election.

The investigation found that only 40% of the money went to victims and rehabilitation of ex-prisoners, and that contracts were awarded at the discretion of ministers without competition.

Romanowski denies the charges.

They fled to Hungary, saying they would not receive a fair trial because of the prosecutors and judges who are politically motivated under the Polish government that is aligned with the EU under President Donald Tusk.

The ruling authorities laughed at this idea because the government led by Law and Justice that Mr. Romanowski served, was strongly criticized by international judicial organizations, the European Commission and the European courts for changing things that interfered with the courts.

Tusk’s government is trying to stop this change because it established a two-way system of judging judges who are appointed according to Law and Justice and senior judges, some of whom do not recognize the new judges because they consider their appointment illegal.

Law and Justice and Mr. Romanowski have criticized the current government for appointing illegals to end the reform.

Until Thursday night, the 48-year-old opposition MP had not been seen for nearly two weeks.

He is said to have not used his phone or bank cards since December 6 and failed to appear in court three days after he was ordered to be remanded in custody before trial.

On Thursday, the European Arrest Warrant was issued by the Warsaw court based on the fact that the defendants fled to the EU country.

There have been speculations that Romanowski was hiding in Hungary.

On Thursday, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said that the current Polish government sees Hungary as an enemy and will provide protection to anyone who is being persecuted politically in Poland.

Mr Orban’s Law and Justice party and Poland share their goals despite disagreements over Russia’s invasion and the war against Ukraine.

They agree that what they consider to be the liberal EU-elite is driving Europe away from its Christian traditions and taking away the sovereignty of its member states.

Mr Romanowski is said to be a member of the Catholic group Opus Dei, who denied earlier this week that the councilor was being hidden by them.

In October 2022, he told Polish Catholic radio that LGBT+ “was deviant”.

A year later he supported the death penalty, even for minors, after a 16-year-old boy was beaten to death by juveniles.