Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban has announced that he will invite Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu to visit his country, saying he will guarantee that an International Criminal Court arrest warrant against Netanyahu will “not be observed.”

According to Orban, the court’s decision to issue an arrest warrant against Netanyahu over alleged war crimes in Gaza is a “complete defamation” of international law and even adds fuel to the fire of the Middle East conflict.

In an interview with with Hungarian state radio, Orban remarked, “This is wrong in itself,” adding, “They are intervening in an ongoing conflict dressed in legal garb, but in reality for political purposes.”

“So there is no other choice here: We have to confront this decision, and so later today I will invite the Prime Minister of the Israelis, Mr. Netanyahu, to visit Hungary and in that invite, I will guarantee him that if he comes, the ICC ruling will have no effect in Hungary, and we will not follow its contents.”
Viktor Orban

He added, “We will proceed solely on the basis of the quality and state of Israeli-Hungarian relations.”

Orban, whose country holds the European Union’s rotating six-month presidency, told state radio that the Israeli leader would be able to conduct negotiations in Hungary “in adequate safety.”

In addition to Netanyahu, the ICC also issued an arrest warrant for former Israeli Defense Minister, Yoav Gallant for “crimes against humanity and war crimes” in the Gaza Strip during the war against Palestinian militant group, Hamas.

Orban becomes the first leader of an ICC signatory country to say that the Hague-based court’s ruling will have no effect in his country.

Earlier, Czech Prime Minister, Petr Fiala denounced the ICC decision and Austria’s Foreign Minister, Alexander Schallenberg also called it “incomprehensible,” but both stopped short of publicly calling it invalid.

Netanyahu Expresses Gratitude To Orban

Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu thanked Hungarian Prime Minister, Viktor Orban for his show of “moral clarity” after inviting him to visit to visit despite an ICC arrest warrant.

“Faced with the shameful weakness of those who stood by the outrageous decision against the right of the State of Israel to defend itself, Hungary is standing by the side of justice and truth.”
Benjamin Netanyahu

Hungary currently holds the European Union’s (EU) rotating six-month presidency.

All 27 member states of the EU, including Hungary, are a part of the ICC and whilst the court says its members are required to detain suspects if they step foot on their soil, the court has no way of enforcing this.

Since Orban and his nationalist Fidesz party swept to power in 2010, he and Netanyahu have forged close political relations. Netanyahu visited Budapest in 2017.

Mr Orban is known for his nationalist and hard-right policies, and has been at odds with the EU on several issues in the past.

Meanwhile, EU Foreign Policy Chief, Josep Borrell said that the warrants were not political and that all EU member states should respect and implement the court decision.

Within the EU, Czechia has been a strong backer of Israel, but its foreign ministry responding to the ICC decision, said that Prague would respect its international legal obligations.

Countries such as Spain and Ireland stress their support for the Palestinians.

Germany, Italy, France, the Netherlands, Canada, Slovenia and Jordan indicated that they respect and could implement the ICC warrants.