Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel, who is visiting Hungary despite facing an international arrest warrant, praised the move.
Hungary said on Thursday that it would pull out of the International Criminal Court, announcing its decision just hours after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel arrived there for a visit despite facing an international arrest warrant.
The government of Prime Minister Viktor Orban had made clear that it would ignore its obligations to act on the I.C.C. warrant. Instead of arresting Mr. Netanyahu upon his arrival in Budapest on Thursday morning, Hungary rolled out the red carpet and welcomed him with a military honor band at Buda Castle overlooking the Danube River.
The withdrawal announcement makes Hungary the sole E.U. country to say it wants out of the international court. The move cemented Mr. Orban’s position as Europe’s odd man out — a role he relishes largely for domestic political reasons — and showcased his desire to align with the Trump administration, which shares Hungary’s contempt for key international bodies.
In a message on Facebook, Gergely Gulyas, Mr. Orban’s chief of staff, said that Hungary would begin the process of withdrawing from the I.C.C. “in accordance with constitutional and international law frameworks.”
A withdrawal would not take effect for at least a year, however, meaning that Hungary — by declining to arrest the Israeli leader — breached its obligations under the 1998 treaty that established the court.
“Hungary remains under a duty to cooperate with the I.C.C.,” the court’s spokesman, Fadi El Abdallah, said in a statement after the withdrawal announcement.