The U.S. State Department helped Poland's former justice minister flee Hungary
Former Polish Justice Minister Zbigniew Ziobro was able to secretly travel to the United States with the direct assistance of the U.S. State Department.
This was reported by the Reuters news agency. Christopher Landau, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs, personally ordered the issuance of a visa for the politician, who is officially wanted in his home country for committing a series of financial crimes.
The urgent issuance of the entry permit took place in early May through the U.S. Embassy in Budapest shortly before the change in Hungary’s political leadership. The country’s previous government, led by Viktor Orbán, had granted the former minister asylum, but the new leader, Péter Magyar, publicly promised to immediately extradite the fugitive to Warsaw. According to available information, U.S. diplomats classified the processing of the documents as an urgent matter of national security.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk called the allies’ decision shocking, while law enforcement agencies emphasize the purely criminal nature of the case. Ziobro is accused of embezzling public funds and illegally using the Pegasus spyware system against the opposition. Ziobro himself denies the allegations and stated that he has already begun working as a commentator for a right-wing conservative TV channel in the U.S.
Poland has officially sent a diplomatic note to the U.S. regarding the visit of former Justice Minister Zbigniew Ziobro. Warsaw wants to determine exactly how he crossed the border and under what circumstances he ended up in the United States.
Polish authorities are investigating the circumstances surrounding the departure of former Prosecutor General and Minister of Justice Zbigniew Ziobro from Hungary to the U.S., despite ongoing investigations into his activities.
Former Polish Minister of Justice Zbigniew Ziobro stated that he is currently in the United States. In Poland, he is wanted in connection with cases involving the possible misuse of public funds and the use of the Pegasus spyware against political opponents.
Nine U.S. and Canadian citizens who illegally entered the grounds of the former Nazi concentration camp Auschwitz-Birkenau have been detained in Poland.
