Fugitive Polish politician seeks annulment of arrest warrant, citing Serbia location

A former Polish deputy justice minister, Marcin Romanowski, who is wanted in Poland on charges of abuse of office and financial fraud, is attempting to have his European arrest warrant canceled. Romanowski fled Poland and is reportedly hiding in Serbia.

His lawyer, Bartosz Lewandowski, has requested the annulment of the European arrest warrant, arguing that it is no longer valid if Romanowski is not within the European Union. "If Polish authorities claim he is not on EU territory, then it is pointless for this warrant to remain in force," Lewandowski told Polish television Polsat.

Romanowski allegedly fled Hungary to Serbia after the Hungarian government, under its new Prime Minister Peter Magyar, pledged to stop granting asylum to corrupt European politicians. Hungarian services reportedly indicated that Romanowski crossed into Serbia from Hungary. Polish media have reported sightings of Romanowski in Serbia and Croatia.

Serbia, as an EU candidate country, does not currently enforce European arrest warrants. This technicality allows Romanowski to potentially evade immediate capture. However, his situation is complicated by the possibility of losing his asylum status and travel documents. Poland has also requested the extradition of another former minister, Zbigniew Ziobro, from the United States, where he reportedly resides under a journalist's visa. Both Ziobro and Romanowski are accused of misusing funds from Poland's state Justice Fund, intended for crime victims, to finance political campaigns for the Law and Justice party.