Hungary’s ICC Exit Highlights Court’s Failure to Deliver Justice And Fairness
Wed 8:02 am +00:00, 30 Apr 2025 2
© Sputnik / Yuriy Kaver
The Hungarian parliament has voted to withdraw from the International Criminal Court (ICC). Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said that Budapest refuses to be a part of “politicized institution that has lost its impartiality and credibility.”
“The ICC has no international legal standing. It’s really a fairly arbitrary collection of countries… created to target adversaries of the West in a moral, legalistic way,” Dr. George Szamuely, senior research fellow at The Global Policy Institute, tells Sputnik, commenting on Hungary’s decision to withdraw from the organization.
Szamuely points out the double standards, particularly how the ICC never pursued the United States or other major powers for alleged crimes while focusing on African nations.
“The only defendants who have been successfully prosecuted by the ICC have been Africans,” he says, highlighting the imbalance.
The expert also criticizes the ICC’s role in political cases like Libya in 2011, where it issued indictments against Muamar Gaddafi and his son without a proper investigation, essentially serving as “a propaganda arm for NATO.”
The ICC’s recent actions, including issuing an arrest warrant against President Vladimir Putin without sufficient evidence, further undermine its legitimacy, according to Szamuely. “The ICC readily lends itself to the desires of the NATO powers,” he adds, exposing its politicized nature.
“The ICC wields little influence over dictators and major leaders from countries like the US and Israel,” Afghan political analyst Najib ar-Rahman Shumal explained to Sputnik, commenting on Hungary’s decision to withdraw from the organization.
“The court has effectively become a political institution rather than being committed to social justice principles. In practice, it safeguards the interests of powerful nations while taking action against leaders from smaller and weaker states,” he added.
Tap, lets hope other countries in the EU follow Hungary’s example!
Indeed! The times they are a changin…
What a time to be alive!