Orbán fa infuriare Varsavia concedendo asilo politico all’ex ministro polacco

Fascists stay together.

As they say nothing proves innocence more than running away to one of Putin’s puppets.

Poland’s foreign ministry calls the Hungarian government’s decision a “hostile” step and an “insult” to Polish authorities.

Poland’s government reacted with rage Friday to a decision by Hungary’s government to grant political asylum to fugitive former Polish Deputy Justice Minister Marcin Romanowski.

Budapest [announced](https://mandiner.hu/belfold/2024/12/gulyas-gergely-lengyelorszagban-jogallamisagi-valsaghelyzet-van) the asylum on Thursday night. 

The move marks a further [breakdown in relations](https://www.politico.eu/article/poland-hungary-krakow-viktor-orban-politics-eu-europe-brussels/) between Poland and Hungary, with Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski [calling it](https://x.com/sikorskiradek/status/1869823588607414290) an “unfriendly step” by Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s populist government.

Sikorski’s ministry [summoned](https://www.gov.pl/web/dyplomacja/komunikat-msz-dot-reakcji-na-przyznanie-przez-rzad-wegier-azylu-poszukiwanemu-marcinowi-romanowskiemu) the Hungarian ambassador on Friday morning.

“We consider the decision to grant political asylum to Marcin Romanowski, who is wanted under a European arrest warrant, to be an act hostile to the Republic of Poland and contrary to the elementary principles binding the member states of the European Union,” the foreign ministry said in a [statement](https://www.gov.pl/web/dyplomacja/komunikat-msz-dot-reakcji-na-przyznanie-przez-rzad-wegier-azylu-poszukiwanemu-marcinowi-romanowskiemu).

“Justifying this decision with alleged political persecution is an insult to citizens and Polish authorities,” it added.

Romanowski, an MP with the opposition Law and Justice (PiS) party, faces 11 [charges](https://www.politico.eu/article/marcin-romanowski-former-deputy-minister-justice-poland-security-far-right-courts-crime/) in Poland for misuse of public funds when he was deputy justice minister from 2019 to 2023. Over the summer, the Polish parliament [lifted his immunity](https://www.politico.eu/article/poland-pis-party-elections-donald-tusk-prime-minister-europe-vote-2024-government-zloty/), and on Thursday a Warsaw court [issued](https://www.rp.pl/prawo-karne/art41602911-jest-europejski-nakaz-aresztowania-marcina-romanowskiego-gdzie-ukrywa-sie-polityk) a European arrest warrant for him.

In a video [message on X posted Thursday](https://x.com/MarcinRoma19996/status/1869849288085516758), Romanowski accused Polish Prime Donald Tusk and Justice Minister Adam Bodnar of “illegally usurping power” and of improperly prosecuting him. Tusk’s government has launched a campaign to prosecute officials from the previous government accused of wrongdoing.

When PiS was in power from 2015 to 2023 it cultivated close relations with Orbán’s Fidesz party, as both ran into trouble with the European Commission over allegations they were backsliding on the bloc’s democratic principles. Relations between Poland and Hungary have become [increasingly](https://www.politico.eu/article/hungary-on-path-of-no-return-under-viktor-orban-warns-poland-justice-minister-adam-bodnar/) [hostile](https://www.politico.eu/article/poland-hungary-krakow-viktor-orban-politics-eu-europe-brussels/) after Tusk and his centrist coalition defeated PiS in late 2023.