Hungary says it grants asylum to former Polish deputy minister Romanowski

20/12/2024 16:30

Hungary has granted political asylum to former Polish deputy justice minister Marcin Romanowski, who faces a probe in Poland over accusations of misuse of public funds, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban's chief of staff said late on Thursday.



Poland called the move a "hostile act".



The chief of staff, Gergely Gulyas, speaking to website mandiner.hu, accused the Polish government of hounding its political opponents. The decision was in accordance with both Hungarian and European Union laws, he said.



"The actions of (Prime Minister Donald) Tusk's government have created a situation where the Polish government disregards its constitutional court's rulings... and uses criminal law as a tool against political opponents," Gulyas said.



Tusk's pro-European government says it has opened the way for prosecutors to investigate wrongdoing under the previous nationalist Law and Justice (PiS) government that left office in 2023, that would previously have been covered up.



Romanowski, a former Polish deputy justice minister who was detained in a probe into the misuse of public funds, was released in mid July after the president of a European rights assembly said he had immunity as a member of the body.