Former Polish justice minister granted asylum by Orbán flees Hungary for US

May 10, 2026 | Law, Politics

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This article has been updated following Ziobro’s confirmation that he is in the United States.

Former Polish justice minister Zbigniew Ziobro, who is wanted in his homeland on a range of criminal charges, has left Hungary, where he had political asylum, and arrived in the United States.

He was granted asylum in Hungary last year by the government of Viktor Orbán, who is an ally of Ziobro’s national-conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party, which ruled Poland from 2015 to 2023.

However, new Hungarian Prime Minister Péter Magyar, who was sworn into office on Saturday, had previously promised to launch proceedings to extradite Ziobro to Poland on his first day in power.

On Sunday morning, right-wing Polish broadcaster Republika reported that Ziobro was in the US. On Sunday evening, Ziobro himself appeared on Republika, where he confirmed that he was indeed in America, saying he had flown there on Saturday.

That had followed hours of speculation as to Ziobro’s whereabouts. On Sunday morning, TVN, a US-owned Polish liberal broadcaster, published a photograph of Ziobro at Newark Liberty International Airport that it said had been taken by another traveller.

Conservative Polish news website wPolityce reported, based on sources, that Marcin Romanowski, a former deputy justice minister who also received asylum in Hungary after fleeing charges in Poland, has likewise travelled to the US.

However, Gazeta Wyborcza, a liberal daily, later reported, also from sources, that Romanowski had not been granted entry to the US. At the time of writing, Romanowski’s whereabouts remain unconfirmed.

On Sunday morning, a spokesman for Poland’s foreign ministry, Maciej Wewiór, told the Fakt newspaper that they had no official information regarding Ziobro’s alleged travel to the US.

Wewiór noted that Ziobro’s Polish passport had previously been revoked, so “we do not know what documents he was supposed to be using to travel, or if it is even true”.

Subsequently, justice minister Waldemar Żurek told Polsat News that, if it was true that Ziobro was in the US, Poland would begin proceedings for his extradition.

Ziobro himself told Republika that he would gladly appear before “an independent American court”, but for now “intends to remain in the United States and enjoy American freedom”.

 

Ziobro and Romanowski both served in the former PiS government. PiS is an ally of Orbán’s Fidesz party, and both parties are also closely aligned with American President Donald Trump. Gazeta Wyborcza reported on Sunday that Trump intervened personally to help Ziobro obtain a US visa, though that remains unconfirmed.

After PiS lost power in December 2023, the new, more liberal government led by Prime Minister Donald Tusk began a series of investigations into alleged corruption and abuses of power under the former administration.

Ziobro is accused of committing a variety of crimes, including leading a criminal group and approving the unlawful purchase of Pegasus spyware. If found guilty, he could face up to 25 years in prison. Ziobro denies the offences and claims to be the victim of a “political vendetta” against him by Tusk.

In October, the government’s majority in parliament approved the lifting of Ziobro’s immunity from prosecution. However, he had by then already travelled to Hungary, where he met personally with Orbán and was then granted asylum in December.

In February, after meeting with Tusk, Hungarian opposition leader Magyar announced that, if he won power at April’s elections, on his first day in office he would begin proceedings to extradite Ziobro and Romanowski to Poland to face justice.

Magyar’s Tisza party subsequently won a landslide victory at those elections, ending 16 years of Orbán rule. Yesterday, Magyar and his new government took office.

Ziobro and Romanowski have both previously declared that they would only be willing to return voluntarily to Poland “when the rule of law is restored”. They claim that, under Tusk’s government, it would be impossible for them to receive a fair trial.


Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.

Main image credit: Pawel Malecki / Agencja Wyborcza.pl

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