Poland cannot guarantee that a court will not order the interception of the plane carrying Russian President Vladimir Putin if it passes through Polish airspace for the planned summit in Budapest, Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski said on Tuesday. The conversation, broadcast on the Catholic channel Radio Rodzina in Wroclaw on Tuesday morning, was published on the website of the public service news channel Polskie Radio24, according to a report by MTI.

The minister was asked about the meeting between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Budapest, and whether Putin could travel to Hungary via Polish airspace, where there is a European Union flight ban on Russian aircraft.

We cannot guarantee that an independent court will not order the government to intercept such an aircraft in order to bring a suspect before the Hague Tribunal

– Radoslaw Sikorski replied, referring to the 2023 decision of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague against Russian President Vladimir Putin. He believes that the Russian president could reach Budapest through the airspace of Turkey, Montenegro and Serbia.

He sharply criticized Hungary's policies

The Polish Foreign Minister criticized Hungary’s invitation to Vladimir Putin, “as an EU member state that is still bound by the ICC’s rules.” This shows that Hungary “positions itself not as part of the West, but between the West and Russia,” said Radoslaw Sikorski.

He noted that since the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, Hungary has “been pursuing a policy that differs from that of most EU member states,” for example, obstructing certain forms of aid to Ukraine and “continuing to buy large amounts of Russian crude oil – despite the fact that it could obtain it from other sources.”

Bulgaria would be willing to allow airspace use if the summit is held in Hungary.