Hungary revokes refugee status of fugitive minister, Poland says

WARSAW, July 2 - Hungary's new government revoked the refugee status of a fugitive former Polish minister and his deputy, Poland's government said on Thursday, as it tries to bring the pair home to face abuse-of-power charges after they fled Budapest.

The decision means former Justice Minister Zbigniew Ziobro and his deputy Marcin Romanowski will be unable to use refugee travel documents that helped them leave Hungary just as the pro-European administration of Prime Minister Peter Magyar was sworn in.

Former Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban had granted asylum to Romanowski, Ziobro and Ziobro's wife Patrycja.

"I have received written confirmation that Hungary has revoked the refugee status of Marcin Romanowski, Zbigniew Ziobro, and Patrycja Kotecka-Ziobro," Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski wrote on X.

"It has also invalidated their travel documents. The wheels of justice grind slowly, but they grind."

The Polish government has exerted strong pressure on the new Hungarian authorities to strip Romanowski and Ziobro of "international protection," said their lawyer, Bartosz Lewandowski. "Since 2023, the entire (Polish) government apparatus has been focused on persecuting the political opposition in Poland," he said.

Ziobro and Romanowski, who served in the nationalist Law and Justice government that lost power in 2023, face charges mainly relating to misuse of money from a fund intended to help victims of crime for political gain.

They reject the charges against them and say they are the victims of a political witch hunt because they investigated alleged wrongdoing by people close to current Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk.

Ziobro flew to the United States from Milan on May 9, the day Magyar was sworn in.

Reuters reported that U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau instructed senior State Department officials to facilitate and approve a visa for him. Landau and the State Department declined to comment for that story.

Romanowski's whereabouts are unknown.

"We will contact the relevant institutions in the United States to inquire whether individuals lacking valid travel documents can continue to reside in the United States," Polish Justice Minister Waldemar Zurek wrote on X. REUTERS