WARSAW, April 13 (Reuters) – Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on Monday he hoped two former Polish ministers who were granted political asylum in Hungary would be sent home to face justice following the victory of the opposition Tisza party in Hungary’s election nL1N40V01B.
Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban granted asylum nL8N3YD08B to former Polish justice minister Zbigniew Ziobro and his deputy Marcin Romanowski nL8N3ZE1AV. The two men had served in Poland’s right-wing Law and Justice (PiS) government, which lost power in 2023.
Ziobro is accused of misusing money from a fund to help victims of crime, including spending it on Pegasus, a spyware system that can infiltrate mobile phones. Prosecutors say it was used against domestic political opponents.
Romanowski is also accused of misusing public funds.
Both men deny any wrongdoing.
Orban, a right-wing ally of Poland’s former PiS government, lost power to Peter Magyar’s Tisza party in Sunday’s election after 16 years in power.
Tusk said he had discussed the asylum issue with Magyar before Hungary’s election.
“The matter is clear here. We don’t need to add anything… I hope to say ‘welcome to Poland’ to these two gentlemen,” Tusk said in a statement during a visit to South Korea.
Poland’s Defence Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz also said on Monday that the two former ministers should give themselves up to Polish justice.
Romanowski, commenting on Hungary’s election for right-wing private Polish broadcaster Republika TV late on Sunday, played down the impact of Magyar’s victory on his situation.
“It’s not the government (in Hungary) that will send us back to Warsaw in handcuffs. That is a court decision,” he said.
Ziobro, who also discussed the Hungarian election results on Republika TV, did not comment on his asylum status.
(Reporting by Pawel FlorkiewiczEditing by Gareth Jones)
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