The Hungarian Foreign Ministry called false the report that the country allegedly blocked a joint statement of EU members regarding the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued a warrant for the arrest of Vladimir Putin. This is reported by TASS with reference to the Hungarian agency MIT.
“The truth is that Hungary stated the following position to the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell: Hungary takes note of the ICC decision and does not wish to comment on it in any way. However, if the High Representative or any EU country wants to make a statement, Hungary will not object to it,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Mate Patsolai said.
The fact that Budapest allegedly blocked the joint statement of the EU, wrote Bloomberg the day before, citing its own sources. On March 20, a statement in support of the decision of the ICC was published by the Ministers of Justice of the EU countries, the representative of Hungary did not sign the document. The decision of the ICC was also approved on its own behalf by the head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell.
On March 17, the ICC issued an arrest warrant for Vladimir Putin and Maria Lvova-Belova, Commissioner for Children's Rights in the Russian Federation. They are accused of organizing the illegal deportation of Ukrainian children, which qualifies as a war crime.