The European Union will continue to support the International Criminal Court (ICC), said European Council President Antonio Costa on Friday, despite the decision by the administration of US President Donald Trump to impose sanctions on four ICC judges.
According to Costa, the court is the “cornerstone of international justice” and its independence and integrity must be protected at all costs, Reuters reported.
These comments from the senior European official came one day after Washington imposed sanctions on four ICC judges in retaliation for the international judicial body’s decision to issue an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, as well as a previous decision to open investigations into alleged war crimes by US forces in Afghanistan.
The sanctions target judges Solomy Balungi Bossa from Uganda, Luz del Carmen Ibanez Carranza from Peru, Reine Adelaide Sophie Alapini Gansou from Benin, and Beti Hohler from Slovenia.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated that these judges “have been actively involved in unlawful and baseless actions by the ICC targeting America or our close ally Israel.”
