Slovenia calls on EU to negate US sanctions on ICC
BRUSSELS/THE HAGUE - The EU gave its backing on Friday to the International Criminal Court after Washington imposed sanctions on four ICC judges, and EU member Slovenia said it would push Brussels to use its power to ensure the U.S. sanctions could not be enforced in Europe.
"The ICC holds perpetrators of the world's gravest crimes to account and gives victims a voice. It must be free to act without pressure. We will always stand for global justice and the respect of international law," European Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen said on social media platform X.
Antonio Costa, president of the European Council, which represents national governments of the 27 member states, called the court "a cornerstone of international justice" and said its independence and integrity must be protected.
U.S. President Donald Trump's administration imposed sanctions on four judges at the ICC in retaliation for the war tribunal's issuance of an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and a past decision to open a case into alleged war crimes by U.S. troops in Afghanistan.
The U.S. order names Solomy Balungi Bossa of Uganda, Luz del Carmen Ibanez Carranza of Peru, Reine Adelaide Sophie Alapini Gansou of Benin and Beti Hohler of Slovenia.
Slovenia called for the European Union to use its blocking statute, which lets the EU ban European companies from complying with U.S. sanctions that Brussels deems unlawful. The power has been used in the past to prevent Washington from banning European trade with Cuba and Iran.
"Due to the inclusion of a citizen of an EU member state on the sanctions list, Slovenia will propose the immediate activation of the blocking act," Slovenia's foreign ministry said in a post on social media site X late on Thursday.
ICC president Judge Tomoko Akane had urged the EU already in March this year to bring the ICC into the scope of the blocking statute.
The new sanctions have been imposed at a difficult time for the ICC, which is already reeling from earlier U.S. sanctions against its chief prosecutor, Karim Khan, who last month stepped aside temporarily amid a United Nations investigation into alleged sexual misconduct. REUTERS
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