Zbigniew Ziobro, the former Polish justice minister granted asylum in Hungary during Viktor Orban’s time as prime minister, fled to the US following Orban’s defeat in last month’s election, Gazeta Wyborcza reported on Sunday.
“I’m in the United States, I arrived yesterday,” Ziobro confirmed in an interview for TV Republika late on Sunday.
Ziobro and his wife, Patrycja Kotecka, arrived stateside after US President Donald Trump personally intervened to approve their visas, the newspaper said, saying the decision was opposed by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and US Ambassador to Poland Tom Rose.
Photo: AFP
Rose had reassured Polish Minister of Foreign Affairs Radoslaw Sikorski that the US would not provide shelter to fugitives from Hungary, the newspaper said, without disclosing how it obtained the information.
Polish lawmakers stripped Ziobro of his parliamentary immunity in November last year after he was accused of misappropriating public funds while serving as justice minister under the previous Law and Justice government. The party’s leaders maintained close ties to Orban, who was voted out of power last month after 16 years in office.
Peter Magyar, 45, was confirmed by lawmakers on Saturday as Hungary’s new prime minister, following his Tisza party’s landslide win in an election.
Magyar had signaled that his nation would no longer be a safe haven for Ziobro, who denies any wrongdoing.
Trump’s consent came after Law and Justice politicians reached out to Trump allies and the White House, the paper said.
Trump agreed because of his affinity for the right-wing party and Polish President, Karol Nawrocki, whom the US leader regards as among his remaining allies in the EU after Orban’s ouster, the report said.
Requests for comment to the US Department of State and White House were not immediately answered on Sunday.
Ziobro did not talk about these circumstances in the interview for TV Republika. He repeated he did not commit any crime, called the allegations “false” and said he did not plan to hide.
The development might further aggravate internal tensions in Poland between Nawrocki and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, who seeks to hold officials of the former nationalist government accountable for alleged abuses of power.
It might also add a thorn in relations between Poland and the US.
The US administration backed Nawrocki in last year’s presidential campaign. Trump has praised Nawrocki and signaled that the Pentagon could shift US additional troops to Poland if they are pulled from Germany.
Tusk, whose party’s presidential candidate was defeated by Nawrocki, has adopted a more cautious stance toward Trump, as he prioritizes strengthening alliances within the EU.
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