Despite Vázquez’s warnings, the faction seeking to shield Salis from Hungary’s courts — citing Orbán’s rule-of-law backsliding — prevailed, aided by some EPP MEPs who broke ranks. Had the entire group backed lifting her immunity, Salis would have lost her protection.
“Legally speaking you can argue that in countries where the rule of law situation is critical, as it is in Hungary, there is a higher risk that criminal proceedings are not taking place in a fair manner,” German Social Democrat MEP René Repasi said.
“That’s why the EU Court of Justice has accepted that European Arrest Warrants from Hungary can be rejected, which the German Constitutional Court actually did in a case similar to the one of Ilaria Salis,” he added.
In June 2024, Salis was released from custody in Budapest after winning a seat in the Parliament with Italy’s Greens and Left Alliance, which granted her parliamentary immunity. But in October last year, Hungarian prosecutors asked the Parliament to lift that immunity.
Salis said the request had “rather peculiar timing.”
“The request reached the Parliament exactly the day after Orbán’s visit, when I, along with other colleagues, had spoken out against the Hungarian government,” she told POLITICO.
According to Salis, Hungary’s request to lift her immunity was politically motivated and she said she feared “political revenge” from Orbán.
In a new interview published Monday, Salis told Corriere della Sera she would like to stand trial in Italy rather than Hungary.
This article has been updated.
