Poland summons Hungary ambassador over asylum for ex-minister

WARSAW: Poland summoned Hungary's ambassador and recalled its own envoy Friday to protest Budapest's "hostile act" of granting asylum to a former Polish deputy minister facing corruption charges.
"The Hungarian ambassador in Poland will be summoned today... to receive an official protest from the Polish side," the foreign ministry said in a statement, adding that it viewed the asylum move as a "hostile act".
"In parallel the foreign minister has decided to recall Poland's ambassador in Hungary for consultations," it added.
Hungarian Prime Minister

Viktor Orban

's chief of staff, Gergely Gulyas, said on Thursday that the country gave refugee status to Polish lawmaker

Marcin Romanowski

.

Romanowski, a lawmaker from the right-wing Law and Justice (PiS) party and former deputy justice minister, is accused of 11 different offences by Polish prosecutors.
Charges against him include participation in an organised crime group and attempted embezzlement of funds totalling almost 40 million euros from a fund for crime victims, which he supervised.
Romanowski had been arrested in Poland, but his detention was later deemed illegal by Polish courts because he had parliamentary immunity as a member of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE).
He disappeared 12 days ago after PACE revoked his immunity and a court ordered his arrest.
Hungary had granted him "

political asylum

, which can be granted if someone's legal case is not guaranteed to be dealt with impartially and free from political influence in their home country beyond reasonable doubt," Gulyas told the pro-government weekly Mandiner's online edition.