Hungary Reverses ICC Exit, Bans Ukrainian Farm Imports

(MENAFN) Hungary's government has abruptly reversed course on two major policy fronts — scrapping its planned withdrawal from the International Criminal Court (ICC) and imposing a sweeping ban on agricultural imports from Ukraine, Prime Minister Peter Magyar announced Friday.

"The government withdraws Hungary's intention to leave the International Criminal Court and bans the import of agricultural products from Ukraine," Magyar wrote in a post on social media platform X.

The scope of the import ban is extensive. A government decree published Friday in Hungary's official gazette prohibits the importation of a wide array of Ukrainian goods, spanning meat, eggs, honey, vegetables, grain crops, flour, sunflower seeds, cooking oil, and wine.

Agriculture and Food Economy Minister Szabolcs Bona had telegraphed the move a day earlier, writing on social media Thursday that the government "will not allow imports from Ukraine or other countries to threaten the livelihoods of Hungarian farmers or the supply of safe food to Hungarian consumers."

The ICC reversal marks a striking policy U-turn. As recently as April 2025, Gergely Gulyas — then head of the Prime Minister's Office — had announced that Budapest would formally initiate withdrawal proceedings, citing what officials described as the court's growing politicization. The Hungarian National Assembly subsequently approved that withdrawal.

Hungary originally signed the ICC's Rome Statute in 1999 and ratified it two years later in 2001.

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