Péter Magyar’s incoming Tisza government is set to extradite two senior figures from Poland’s former conservative Law and Justice (PiS) administration who sought refuge in Hungary from leftist PM Donald Tusk’s pursuit of his rivals.
It is no wonder that Tusk, a fellow member of the centrist-liberal European People’s Party, is so happy with Magyar’s victory.
Former Polish justice minister Zbigniew Ziobro faces jail time of up to 25 years, although his supporters have described the accusations leveled against him as “the terror of political revenge.” Outgoing Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán granted him international protection and political asylum in January this year.
Marcin Romanowski, a former Polish deputy justice minister, was also granted asylum in Hungary before later having a European Arrest Warrant lifted by a Warsaw court.
Magyar gloated on Monday: “I’ve already suggested to them that they should not go to Ikea and buy new furniture because they won’t stay in Hungary long.” He added that “Hungary will not harbor internationally wanted criminals.”
Speaker of the Polish Sejm Włodzimierz Czarzasty has also celebrated the prospect of so-called “potential bandits, criminals, and thieves” being tried in Warsaw.
However, PiS leader Jarosław Kaczyński said this amounted to the establishment of “a dictatorship, and an exceptionally disgusting dictatorship at that.”
This threat is underlined by the fact Hungary’s incoming PM has confirmed he will make Poland the destination for his first official overseas visit.
At the same time, Magyar is calling on several senior officeholders—including the president of the republic, the chief prosecutor, the head of the State Audit Office, and the president of the media authority—to step down, saying that “those who have robbed the country must be held accountable.”
That push has been met with firm resistance from those targeted, who insist they are acting “in accordance with the law” and have no intention of stepping down.
Michael Curzon is a news writer for europeanconservative.com based in England’s Midlands. He is also Editor of Bournbrook Magazine, which he founded in 2019, and previously wrote for London’s Express Online. His Twitter handle is @MichaelCurzon_.
