Zbigniew Ziobro, the former Polish justice minister granted asylum in Hungary during Viktor Orbán’s time as prime minister, fled to the US following Orbán’s defeat in last month’s election.
“I’m in the United States, I arrived yesterday,” Ziobro confirmed in an interview for TV Republika late on Sunday.
Ziobro and his wife, Patrycja Kotecka, arrived stateside after US president Donald Trump personally intervened to approve their visas, Gazeta Wyborcza reported on Sunday, saying the decision was opposed by US secretary of state Marco Rubio and US ambassador to Poland Tom Rose.
Rose had recently reassured Poland’s foreign minister Radoslaw Sikorski that the US wouldn’t provide shelter to fugitives from Hungary, the newspaper said, without disclosing how it obtained the information.
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Polish lawmakers stripped Ziobro of parliamentary immunity in November after he was accused of misappropriating public funds while serving as justice minister under the previous Law and Justice government. The party’s leaders maintained close ties to Orbán, who was voted out of power in April after 16 years in office.
Péter Magyar (45), was confirmed by lawmakers on Saturday as Hungary’s new premier, following his Tisza party’s landslide win in the election.
Magyar had signalled that his country would no longer be a safe haven for Ziobro, who denies any wrongdoing.
[ Who is Peter Magyar, the man set to take over from Viktor Orbán in Hungary?Opens in new window ]
Trump’s consent came after Law and Justice politicians reached out to Trump allies and the White House, the paper said. Trump agreed because of his affinity for the right-wing party and Poland’s nationalist president, Karol Nawrocki, whom the US leader regards as among his remaining allies in the European Union after Orban’s ouster, according to the report.
Requests for comment to the White House and state department were not immediately answered on Sunday.
Ziobro didn’t talk about these circumstances in the interview for TV Republika. He repeated he didn’t commit any crime, called the allegations “false” and said he didn’t plan to hide.
The development may further aggravate internal tensions in Poland between Nawrocki and prime minister Donald Tusk, who seeks to hold officials of the former nationalist government accountable for alleged abuses of power.
It may also add a thorn in relations between Poland and the US.
The US administration backed Nawrocki in the 2025 presidential campaign. Trump has praised Nawrocki in recent days and signalled that the Pentagon could shift US additional troops to Poland if they’re pulled from Germany.
Tusk, whose party’s presidential candidate was defeated by Nawrocki, has adopted a more cautious stance toward Trump, as he prioritises strengthening alliances within the EU. – Bloomberg
