A former Polish deputy government official facing corruption allegations may have escaped Hungary by crossing into Serbia, according to Hungarian Prime Minister Peter Magyar during a Tuesday evening interview with private television network TVN24.
Magyar is currently visiting Poland for two days, and discussions on Wednesday may address how former Polish Justice Minister Zbigniew Ziobro and his deputy Marcin Romanowski—both sought by Warsaw prosecutors—managed to exit Hungary before Magyar assumed leadership.
Prosecutors allege that Ziobro and Romanowski improperly used money from a crime victim assistance fund and deployed surveillance software against political adversaries. Hungary’s previous leader Viktor Orban had granted both men asylum protection.
While Ziobro is currently in the United States, where Reuters reported Monday that U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau directed State Department officials to process and approve his visa, Romanowski’s current location remains unknown.
Speaking through an interpreter, Magyar told TVN24: “From what I understand, Ziobro… left through the Schengen Area about a day before my inauguration,” referencing the European Union’s border-free travel zone.
“I just spoke with my colleagues, and… there are signs that Mr Romanowski also left through Serbia, but this information is not yet confirmed,” Magyar added.
Serbian foreign ministry officials did not respond immediately to requests for comment after business hours.
On Wednesday, Magyar is scheduled to meet with Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk and President Karol Nawrocki in Warsaw. Magyar and Tusk will then travel north to the port city of Gdansk for a meeting with former president and Nobel Peace Prize winner Lech Walesa.
According to a knowledgeable source, Warsaw intends to provide Budapest with access to U.S. liquefied natural gas through a new Gdansk terminal expected to begin operations in 2028. Orlen is already supplying U.S. LNG to Ukraine.
During his TVN24 interview, Magyar expressed Hungary’s desire for more affordable gas prices for LNG deliveries.
“It’s not yet a great, competitive price,” he stated. “We would be the happiest if there was a lower transit fee, or if the European Union could be persuaded to make the gas arriving via LNG more competitive.”
