Orbán announced the Thursday meeting with a joint photo, writing that “the pro-Brusselian Polish government has launched a political witch hunt” against the Polish right and that authorities are “trying to have him arrested.” He added: “All this in the heart of Europe, while Brussels stays silent.”
Ziobro said he was in Budapest for the premiere of “Takeover,” (“Przejęcie”) a documentary he said depicts the government of Donald Tusk “dismantling the rule of law” and seizing state institutions and media.
He called the meeting with Orbán unplanned, said they discussed politics, praised what he dubbed Orbán's defense of Hungarian sovereignty and asserted “Tusk’s rule is nearing its end.”
The former minister denied applying for political asylum, telling the portal wPolityce.pl he had submitted “no applications, no documents […] in any country.” Separately, Orbán’s chief of staff Gergely Gulyás joined discussions that also touched on Hungary’s granting of political asylum to former Polish deputy justice minister Marcin Romanowski.
Poland’s justice minister and prosecutor general, Waldemar Żurek, this week sent the Sejm a request to lift Ziobro’s parliamentary immunity and to authorize his detention and arrest. The case concerns alleged rigging of competitions for multimillion-złoty grants from the Justice Fund. Sejm Speaker Szymon Hołownia said the request was sent for formal review before going to Ziobro and a parliamentary committee.
Polish officials reacted swiftly. Prime Minister Tusk wrote on X: “Either in custody, or in Budapest.” Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski asked: “Will there be asylum or not?” Government spokesman Adam Szłapka quipped that party caucus meetings might soon be held with Orbán.
Conservative opposition party Law and Justice (PiS) deputy spokesman Mateusz Kurzejewski said the party had no prior knowledge of the meeting, adding Ziobro “has the right to be wherever he wants.”
He said he agreed “100%” with Orbán’s assessment, calling the charges against Ziobro repressive and the arrest request “another stage of Donald Tusk’s games.”
(jh)
Source: PAP