A strong supporter of Ukraine, Poland has warned Russian president Vladimir Putin against flying through its airspace for a planned summit in Budapest. Warsaw emphasized that it could be legally obliged to enforce an International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrant issued against Putin.
Polish foreign minister Radosław Sikorski noted that the ICC warrant requires member states to detain Putin if he enters their territory. Hungary, whose Prime Minister Viktor Orbán maintains close ties with both the U.S. and Russia, has assured Putin that he can enter and leave the country safely.
Right-wing Polish politician Slawomir Mentzen criticized Poland’s stance, noting the risks of intercepting a nuclear leader’s plane and questioning why Poland wants to enforce an ICC warrant against Putin but previously guaranteed safety to Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu, despite a similar ICC order.
The central complication facing summit travel plans is that avoiding Ukrainian airspace would require Russia’s president to overfly at least one European Union member state on his way to Budapest, with all EU countries being ICC members.
