By Jo Harper
WARSAW (AA) - A meeting this week between former Polish Justice Minister Zbigniew Ziobro and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban in Budapest set off a political storm in Warsaw on Thursday, with Polish leaders suggesting Ziobro may be seeking protection abroad as prosecutors close in on an abuse-of-funds probe.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk wrote on the US social media company X’s platform that Ziobro’s future lay “either in custody, or in Budapest.”
Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski asked followers on X to place “predictions” on whether asylum would follow.
Ruling Civic Coalition (KO) MP Witold Zembaczynski suggested that if a European Arrest Warrant (EAW) is issued, Hungary will be obliged under EU law to surrender a wanted person back to Poland.
From the opposition Law and Justice (PiS) party’s camp, Marcin Romanowski — a former deputy minister of justice charged with 11 counts related to the misuse of the Justice Fund — praised "a meeting of sovereigntists opposing Brussels’ dictates,” accusing Tusk of turning “captured institutions into weapons against the opposition.”
Orban is the PiS’s closest EU ally on “culture-war” and sovereignty themes, but Budapest has frequently shielded allies from Brussels’ pressure.
Dariusz Matecki, another opposition MP accused in a related case of money laundering, warned Hungarians that “liberal EU elites” would target Orban ahead of elections and urged Budapest to “defend your state.”
Prosecutors allege systemic misuse of Poland’s Justice Fund—money allocated for crime prevention—during Ziobro’s tenure. Dozens of searches, indictments and witness hearings have taken place since late 2023.
If Polish prosecutors seek Ziobro and a court issues an EAW, a Hungarian court would assess limited grounds for refusal. Purely political reasons are not a valid refusal ground. Asylum for an EU citizen inside the EU is extraordinary and would collide with mutual-trust principles.
Ziobro, justice minister from 2015 to 2023, led the judiciary overhaul that triggered EU infringement actions and fund freezes.
The Tusk government elected in 2023 has tried to unwind those changes and is pushing high-profile corruption cases. PiS brands the probes “political retribution,” while the coalition says they’re law enforcement.