“I will treat the issue of the Justice Fund as a priority,” Justice Minister Adam Bodnar said at a press conference. – One of the first decisions was to establish a research team. He added that he is responsible for detecting any irregularities within the fund.
– This is a fundamental problem. He said we are demanding the same thing that the Supreme Court of Auditors and journalists have been demanding since 2018. – Furthermore, Jarosław Kaczynski himself wrote about this in a letter to Minister Ziobro. The topic was known, he noted.
As he emphasized, the issue of the Justice Fund is still evolving. “Twenty-three people have been charged in this case,” he said.
“I will not stop and continue all efforts to resolve abuses,” the minister said.
Bodnar on Romanovsky: This is an unprecedented situation.
“Mr. Marcin Romanovsky directly supervised the disbursement of funds from the fund,” he said. “We need to involve the European Union and the European Council on this issue, because we cannot afford to let these people avoid responsibility,” he added.
“It is an unprecedented situation that someone accused of such serious crimes had to flee to Hungary to escape justice,” Bodnar said.
The minister said no one expected that the incident would be used to deepen tensions in Hungary's relations with the European Union. “This case has the highest political priority,” he added.
Marcin Romanowski exiles to Hungary
On Thursday, lawyer Bartosz Lewandowski announced that Marcin Romanowski has been granted asylum in Hungary. Romanovsky sought asylum in connection with “politically motivated actions by the police and the prosecutor's office,” according to the politician's representatives.
This decision was also confirmed to mandiner.hu by Gergely Gulyas, head of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán's office.
Earlier on Thursday, the Warsaw Regional Court announced the issuance of a European arrest warrant for Marcin Romanowski. The National Prosecuting Authority has accused the politician of committing 11 crimes, including: Participation in organized crime groups and unfair competition for money from justice funds.
The Hungarian government's decision caused much comment in Poland. He specifically mentioned this incident: Radosław Sikorski, Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. “We consider the decision of the government of Viktor Orbán to grant political asylum to Mr. Romanowski, who is wanted on a European Arrest Warrant for criminal offenses, as an act hostile to the principles of the Republic of Poland and the European Union. “We will announce our decision tomorrow,” he wrote on the X website Thursday night.
Bryc: Europe prepares for major unpredictability/RMF24.pl/RMF