US Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau instructed officials to facilitate a visa for former Polish justice minister Zbigniew Ziobro, enabling him to flee to the United States from Hungary, according to three sources familiar with the matter. Ziobro is currently sought for prosecution in Poland on 26 charges, largely stemming from the alleged misuse of money from a crime victims' fund for political gain.
Ziobro, the architect of contentious changes to the Polish judicial system under the conservative Law and Justice party (PiS) from 2015-2023, says he is the victim of a politically motivated campaign by Poland's ruling pro-European Union coalition and denies wrongdoing. The European Union had said his reforms undermined the rule of law.
Landau directed senior officials from the State Department's Consular Affairs Bureau to instruct the US embassy in Budapest to issue a visa for Ziobro, one source said it was a journalist visa. This intervention allowed Ziobro to secure his visa ahead of Hungarian Prime Minister Peter Magyar's May 9 swearing-in, as Magyar had said he would extradite Ziobro to Poland on his first day in office.
Landau learned of Ziobro's case earlier this spring from US ambassador to Poland Tom Rose and considered the ex-minister someone who was unjustly prosecuted, a fourth source said. In directing the visa issuance, Landau justified the urgency by presenting the matter as a national security issue, though Reuters could not determine the rationale.
Poland's Justice Minister Waldemar Zurek expressed surprise and said prosecutors have an extradition request prepared. 'We will do everything to bring Mr. Ziobro to justice in Poland,' he said. The State Department declined to comment, citing visa record confidentiality.
