Interpol refuses to issue red notice for Polish opposition politician granted asylum in Hungary

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

Interpol has refused Poland’s request to issue a red notice seeking the arrest and extradition of a Polish opposition politician who was granted asylum last year in Hungary after fleeing criminal charges relating to his time as a deputy justice minister in the former Law and Justice (PiS) government.

“The Interpol General Secretariat has decided not to publish a search [notice] for PiS MP Marcin Romanowski,” Anna Adamiak, the spokeswoman for prosecutor general Adam Bodnar, who also serves as justice minister, told the Polish Press Agency (PAP) on Tuesday.

She added that the agency – which facilitates cooperation between national police forces – had not given any justification for its decision, instead “availing itself of the principle of confidentiality”.

Interpol’s decision was welcomed by Romanowski himself, who told Polish broadcaster TV Republika that it was a “red card for the regime of [Prime Minister Donald] Tusk”.

“Unfortunately, it is also a loss for Poland, because we are lowering the credibility of our country,” he said, adding that “Interpol is intended to pursue serious criminals” and not “politically persecuted people” such as himself.

“The decision to grant me legal protection in Hungary was dictated by the fact that in Poland I had no chance of a fair trial,” declared Romanowski.

In December last year, prosecutors in Poland issued an arrest warrant for Romanowski, who was facing 11 charges, including for participating in an organised criminal group, using crime as a source of income and abusing power.

Subsequently, a European Arrest Warrant (EAW) was also issued for the politician and Polish police submitted a request to Interpol to issue a red notice, which would require other countries to locate and provisionally arrest Romanowski pending extradition.

However, in the meantime, Romanowski appeared in Hungary – whose conservative ruling Fidesz party is a longstanding ally of PiS – where he was granted political asylum.

Poland’s foreign minister, Radosław Sikorski, declared at the time that Poland “considers the decision of [Hungary’s] government…to be an act hostile to Poland and the principles of the European Union”.

In March this year, Polish prosecutors added a further eight charges that they want to bring against Romanowski. In the same month, Bodnar accused Hungary of obstructing the execution of the EAW and said he had appealed for intervention from the EU’s criminal justice agency, Eurojust.

The current Polish government, which came to power in December 2023, has made holding former PiS officials accountable for alleged corruption and abuses of power one of its priorities.

In addition to Romanowski, prosecutors are seeking to bring charges against a number of former PiS government ministers, including Mariusz Kamiński, Michał Woś and Michał Dworczyk.

PiS has argued that the government is using the justice system for political purposes, in order to attack the opposition. During its own time in power, PiS was widely seen by international organisations, many Polish courts, and the Polish public itself to have politicised and undermined the justice system.

While Interpol has not provided an explanation of its decision not to issue a red notice against Romanowski, Przemysław Rosati, the president of Poland’s Supreme Bar Council, told news website Onet that there are two likely reasons behind it.

“It can be assumed that the refusal to publish such a notice resulted from the fact that Mr Romanowski obtained asylum status in Hungary,” said Rosati.

“In addition, he is a politician of an opposition party, which may indicate that Interpol has applied article 3 of its statute, which prohibits this organisation from undertaking any intervention of a political nature,” he added.

“Interpol does not have the tools to check the truth or falsity of claims [by Romanowski that he is being politically persecuted], so from the point of view of this organisation, the easiest and safest thing to do is to proceed cautiously,” concluded Rosati.

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: Ministerstwo Sprawiedliwości (under CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 PL)

Daniel Tilles

Daniel Tilles is editor-in-chief of Notes from Poland. He has written on Polish affairs for a wide range of publications, including Foreign Policy, POLITICO Europe, EUobserver and Dziennik Gazeta Prawna.