The Foreign Minister of Poland, Radosław Sikorski, stated that if Vladimir Putin were to fly to a potential meeting with Donald Trump and cross Polish airspace, his plane could be forced to land for his arrest based on a warrant issued by the International Criminal Court in The Hague, reports BBC News.
“We cannot guarantee that an independent Polish court will not order the government to force such a hypothetical plane to land, in order to hand over the suspect to the Court in The Hague”, Sikorski said in an interview for Radio Rodzina, quoted by Reuters and the BBC correspondent in Poland.
In a recent phone call, Trump and Putin agreed to meet in the capital of Hungary, Budapest, but the date of the meeting has not yet been set. All neighboring countries of Hungary, with the exception of Serbia, have suspended regular flights with Russia, but may consider allowing the Russian president’s plane to pass through their airspace. Poland does not share a border with Hungary.
Putin is liable for arrest, based on a warrant issued by the International Criminal Court in March 2023, in the territories of the states that have signed the statute of this court.
Sikorski acknowledged that, theoretically, Putin could completely avoid the territories of EU countries on his way to Hungary, flying the route Turkey – Mediterranean Sea – Montenegro – Serbia. However, both Serbia and Montenegro are also members of the International Criminal Court, notes BBC News.