A former justice minister from Poland who is wanted on criminal charges in his home country has made his way to the United States after receiving political asylum in Hungary, according to reports from Warsaw.
Zbigniew Ziobro served as a prominent member of the nationalist conservative Law and Justice party, which controlled Poland’s government from 2015 through 2023. During that period, the administration gained political influence over Poland’s court system by appointing sympathetic judges to senior positions and retaliating against critics through disciplinary measures or relocations.
Ziobro revealed in January that Hungary had granted him asylum under the leadership of nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.
Speaking to the Polish right-wing news outlet Republika on Sunday, Ziobro confirmed his arrival in America the day before, which happened to coincide with the swearing-in ceremony in Budapest for Orbán’s replacement, Péter Magyar, who won against the veteran leader in last month’s election. According to Polish news service PAP, Ziobro stated he was traveling with documentation provided as part of his asylum status.
Poland’s current Prime Minister Donald Tusk took office in late 2023 with plans to reverse the judicial reforms implemented by the previous administration, though these efforts have faced resistance from two consecutive presidents who support the nationalist right.
Last October, prosecutors sought to remove Ziobro’s parliamentary protection so they could file charges against him. The allegations include misappropriating funds designated for violence victims, specifically for acquiring Israeli Pegasus spying technology.
Tusk’s political party maintains that Law and Justice illegally deployed Pegasus to monitor political rivals during their time in office. Ziobro maintains his actions were within legal bounds.
The national prosecutor’s office announced Monday through social media that they are tracking Ziobro’s location and examining whether others helped him in “escaping and avoiding criminal responsibility, thus hindering the probe into the justice fund.”
Justice Minister Waldemar Żurek posted on X Sunday night that Poland had canceled Ziobro’s travel credentials, including his diplomatic passport, and that Warsaw plans to question both the United States and Hungary regarding the legal foundation for Ziobro’s departure from Hungarian soil and entry into America.
Ziobro’s international movement could strain relations between Warsaw and Washington.
Polish Foreign Ministry representative Maciej Wewiór told The Associated Press that “we don’t want this issue to become political.”
“Our relationship with the U.S. goes much deeper than what happens with Ziobro,” he said. “But we do want our citizen to eventually return to Poland and face justice.”
