Polish Deputy Foreign Minister Wladyslaw Bartoszewski said that if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu comes to Poland, he will be arrested in accordance with the country’s commitment to the International Criminal Court (ICC).
Bartoszewski’s comments came in a Friday conversation with the Polish economic and legal newspaper Rzeczpospolita regarding the preparations for the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, which is set to take place this January 27.
Netanyahu was charged in November, along with former defense minister Yoav Gallant, for a series of crimes by the ICC. States that signed the Rome Statute are legally required to comply with ICC arrest warrants.
The anniversary is typically a major state event. However, Israeli officials declined to confirm whether Netanyahu would be permitted at the event, and President Isaac Herzog’s participation also seems unlikely.
Education Minister Yoav Kisch will be the only Israeli government representative at the anniversary.
Polish sources told Rzeczpospolita that Warsaw was enforcing the warrants due to its wish to see Russian President Vladimir Putin stand before the court. The court issued a warrant for Putin in 2022 over the kidnapping of Ukrainian children from occupied Ukraine.
Complying with the ICC arrest warrants
All 27 European Union states belong to the Rome Statute and are legally required to comply with the arrest warrants. So far, only Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has said that Netanyahu would not be arrested if he came to visit, going so far as to invite Netanyahu to his country.
Multiple EU states initially said they would arrest Netanyahu if he arrived in their nations. However, several have now reversed this either partially or completely.
France initially said it would fully comply with the arrest warrants, but following negotiations for a ceasefire in Lebanon, France then said that Netanyahu would be protected by diplomatic immunity.
Other EU states have confirmed they would arrest Netanyahu regardless of diplomatic immunity – including Spain, the Netherlands, Belgium, Ireland, Lithuania, and Slovenia.