Hungary grants asylum for former Pis Vice Minister: Poland outraged!

Hungary grants asylum for former Pis Vice Minister: Poland outraged!

A former Vice Justice Minister of Poland, Marcin Romanowski, received political asylum in Hungary, while he is sought by the Polish public prosecutor because of serious allegations of corruption. The Hungarian authorities granted him protection, which led to a shock in the Polish government. The Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski described the granting of asylum as a "enemy act against Poland and the principles of the EU". This was done after a court in Poland had granted the application from the public prosecutor's office to pursue Romanowski with a European arrest warrant and against him investigations into a criminal association, including suspicion of membership in a criminal association, was initiated, as ORF reported.

The allegations against Romanowski are serious: As a deputy minister of Justice, he is accused of having steered millions of funds from a fund for crime victims into wrong projects in order to give the then ruling national conservative party PIS a political advantage. According to a media report, the equivalent of 23.5 million euros should have flowed to the foundation of a Catholic priest, known for its exorcism practices. These funds were intended for a protective house for crime victims, which was actually used for the establishment of a media empire, which reinforced the allegations of embezzlement.

political reactions and next steps

Romanowski's lawyer argued that the investigation against him was politically motivated and that he could not expect a fair process in Poland. This led Hungary to take up the asylum application based on the assumption that the "rights and freedoms" of the former minister in his homeland were endangered, such as the