Poland recalls ambassador to Hungary over fugitive asylum case

Foreign Ministry spokesman Pawel Wronski said on Friday that Poland’s ambassador to Budapest has been recalled to Warsaw indefinitely, a day after Hungary granted asylum to former Polish justice minister and current Law and Justice Party (PiS) lawmaker Marcin Romanowski.

Poland had earlier summoned the Hungary’s ambassador to Warsaw.

Romanowski is wanted in Poland for alleged corruption and misuse of public funds during his time as minister in the previous PiS government. 

On Thursday, Hungarian authorities announced they would be granting him political asylum in Hungary, a move Poland’s Foreign Ministry has since called “offensive to Polish citizens and authorities.”

Police in Poland had been looking for Romanowski since last week, after a Polish court approved a request for the lawmaker to be put in pre-trial detention. After a fruitless search, prosecutors issued a European Arrest Warrant for Romanowski citing evidence that he was abroad. 

Hours before Romanowski’s lawyer announced the lawmaker had been granted asylum in Hungary, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk warned against Budapest taking any “odd decisions”.

“Should Budapest take any odd decisions that would be inconsistent with the European law, such as granting political asylum or ignoring the European Arrest Warrant, Viktor Orbán would be the one in a precarious position, not I,” Tusk said.

This story will be updated further as more news comes in.