Hungary’s incoming Prime Minister, Péter Magyar, has just shaken the European chessboard. After his historic victory on April 12, when his Tisza party toppled Viktor Orbán with a supermajority after 16 years, the center-right leader confirmed at a press conference that Budapest will comply with the International Criminal Court’s arrest warrant against Benjamin Netanyahu.

“If a person wanted by the ICC enters that country’s territory, they must be taken into custody. I assume every state and government leader is aware of these regulations,” Magyar declared. And he went further: he told the Israeli prime minister himself. The message slams the door on the protection policy Orbán had built for years to shield his ally.

The shift is total. In April 2025, Orbán welcomed Netanyahu to Budapest with full honors and refused to arrest him, even announcing Hungary’s withdrawal from the ICC. That withdrawal, however, only takes effect on June 2, 2026. Until then, the country remains fully bound by the Rome Statute, and Magyar plans to honor it.

The ICC issued the arrest warrant on November 21, 2024, against Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza. Magyar announced he will reverse the withdrawal process and keep Hungary as a full member of the court, a clear break with the Trump, Orbán, Netanyahu axis.

Hungary joins a list of around 20 European and Latin American countries that have confirmed they would honor the warrant. For Netanyahu, the map of the world where he can travel safely keeps shrinking. For Europe, the message is clear: the era of unconditional backing from Budapest is over.