The European Union (EU) lend firm support for the International Criminal Court(ICC) in the latest statement issued, in response to the Washington’s announcement to start a campaign to dismantle the ICC.Spokesperson for the European Commission pushed back against the Washington claim that ICC undermines its national sovereignty.
Anouar El Anouni, an EU spokesperson, said on Tuesday: “We stand firm in our support for the international criminal court (ICC). Attacks or threats against the court, elected officials, personnel or those cooperating with the court are simply not acceptable.”
The spokesperson for the European Commission stressed that the bloc is determined to safeguard, to protect the ICC.We, that the court does not target the sovereign states but individuals, perpetrators of the gravest crimes in the world.
He said: “Let’s also recall that the ICC does not target sovereign states, nor does it constitute a threat to their sovereignty.”
Instead, he added, it “exercises jurisdiction over individuals, perpetrators of the most serious crimes of concern to the international community”.
A few days ago, Trump’s administration asserted that the International Criminal Court poses a threat to its national sovereignty, and that it is starting a systematic campaign to dismantle it.
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Since the return to power, the Trump administration has worked against the International Criminal Court. 11 of the court’s officials, including the chief prosecutor and eight judges, have been placed under U.S. sanctions.
The sanction includes cancel credit cards, Amazon and Google accounts, as well as U.S. travel bans. In a video message released on Monday, Marco Rubio stated that the court threatens every aspect of our legal and political system. U.S. State Department stated that the campaign against the court would take a wide range of actions including potentially pressuring other nations to withdraw from the ICC and increase scrutiny of the state who refuse to do so, while relying on U.S. assistance. The dismantling of the ICC would primarily hurt the Ukraine.
