Zbigniew Ziobro Confirms Flight from Hungary to US as Poland Seeks International Arrest Warrant

Zbigniew Ziobro confirmed he has fled from Hungary to the United States, arriving on May 10 2026. He entered the US on the same day as the inauguration of Péter Magyar. Ziobro told the rightwing Polish broadcaster Republika that he is in the United States and had arrived a day earlier.

Polish prosecutors are investigating how Ziobro left Hungary and entered the US. He is wanted by the Polish prosecution service on charges of abuse of power. Prosecutors have accused him of creating and leading a criminal group that diverted funds from victims of violence and used them to buy Israeli Pegasus spyware to monitor political opponents.

Ziobro faces up to 25 years in prison if convicted. He has denied the charges, describing them as fabricated. Ziobro accused the centrist Polish government led by Donald Tusk of carrying out a personal vendetta against him.

Radosław Sikorski, Poland’s foreign minister, said on Monday: “You can’t hide these days. ” Sikorski added that Poland will apply to court to ask for an international arrest warrant for Ziobro, both European and international. Poland expects friendly countries to honour its request for Ziobro’s extradition.

Ziobro was stripped of his Polish and diplomatic passports last year. Przemysław Nowak, a spokesperson for the prosecutor’s office, said Ziobro has not had a passport for many months. “Everything suggests the suspect has chosen to continue evading the Polish justice system,” Nowak told reporters.

Poland’s foreign ministry will ask both the United States and Hungary for the legal and factual basis on which Ziobro left Hungarian territory. It will also ask what document allowed him to cross the border and gave him the right to enter the United States. Ziobro told Republika he had entered the US using the asylum documents provided to him by Hungary.

The Polish news site Onet reported that Ziobro had received a US journalist visa linked to Republika. The broadcaster hired Ziobro as its political commentator in the US. Gazeta Wyborcza reported that President Donald Trump was personally involved in securing Ziobro a visa, overriding objections from Secretary of State Marco Rubio and the US ambassador in Warsaw, Tom Rose.

Tom Rose had recently reassured Radosław Sikorski that the US would not provide shelter to Ziobro. Péter Magyar said Hungary would no longer harbour Ziobro. ” The whereabouts of Marcin Romanowski are unclear.

Polish officials have accused Marcin Romanowski of corruption and abusing funds meant to help victims of crime. Marcin Romanowski denies any wrongdoing. Waldemar Zurek, the current Polish justice minister, said Poland had for months been taking every possible step to ensure that Zbigniew Ziobro was brought to justice.

Zurek added that Poland will not cease its efforts to ensure that Ziobro and Marcin Romanowski are held accountable before the Polish justice system. Ziobro was the leader of the ultra-conservative Sovereign Poland party, a junior coalition partner of the nationalist Law and Justice (PiS) party. He is known as an architect of contentious judicial reforms.

He said he was not afraid of the court. Ziobro added: “If they want to initiate extradition proceedings, by all means,” describing extradition cases in US courts as a demanding procedure. The Guardian reported these developments surrounding the former minister's flight and Poland's response.