BRUSSELS: The European Union on Tuesday (Jul 14) slammed threats against the International Criminal Court, after the United States vowed a sweeping campaign against the tribunal.
“We are strongly committed to international criminal justice and the fight against impunity. Attacks or threats against the court-elected officials, personnel or those cooperating with the court, are simply not acceptable,” EU spokesman Anouar El Anouni said.
Washington on Monday menaced the court with further sanctions and other measures, accusing it of posing “an intolerable threat to US sovereignty.”
The Trump administration said it would pressure other countries to withdraw from the court, marking a sharp escalation in the US effort to isolate the Hague-based institution and starve it of political and financial support.
The State Department said in a statement that the campaign will “systematically disable the ICC’s ability to operate, target American servicemen or officials, or otherwise threaten American sovereignty”.
The US has previously targeted individual court officials it deemed a threat to US interests.
In February 2025, shortly after President Donald Trump returned to office, Washington slapped asset freezes and travel bans on several ICC officials over an arrest warrant issued for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over the war in Gaza.
The US, like Israel, has not ratified the international treaty that established the ICC and it has rejected the court’s jurisdiction in cases involving the US or Israel.
Three ICC judges sanctioned by the Trump administration filed a lawsuit in June against the president and other senior US officials, arguing that the measures imposed on them were unlawful.
Established in 2002, the ICC prosecutes individuals accused of the gravest atrocities, including war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide.