European Union condemns US sanctions against International Criminal Court

The European Union's top officials on Friday condemned US sanctions against four judges of the International Criminal Court (ICC).

"The ICC holds perpetrators of the world's gravest crimes to account (and) gives victims a voice," wrote European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on X.

"It must be free to act without pressure. We will always stand for global justice (and) the respect of international law," she added.

The ICC "must remain free from pressure and true to its principles," wrote Kaja Kallas, the EU's top diplomat.

"We will always support its vital work and protect its independence," she added.

Kallas' spokeswoman said that the impact of the sanctions would be monitored and possible reactions are being assessed.

This could possibly include the application of the so-called blocking statue to persuade European companies not to co-operate in the implementation of the US sanctions.

The US administration accuses the court based in The Hague of baseless and targeted action against the United States and Israel.

Washington accuses the sanctioned judges of having authorized an investigation into US soldiers in Afghanistan or facilitated arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defence minister Yoav Galant over the Gaza war.

As a result of the sanctions, any property belonging to the judges in the US will be frozen. Additionally, US companies and US citizens are no longer allowed to do business with them. However, the US government has not issued an entry ban.

The judges concerned are Uganda's Solomy Balungi Bossa, Peruvian Luz del Carmen Ibáñez Carranza, Beninese national Reine Alapini-Gansou and Slovenia's Beti Hohler.

The ICC has been prosecuting the most serious crimes such as genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity since 2002. All EU countries are members. However, the US, Israel and Russia are not signatories.

Donald Trump had already ordered sanctions in his first term as US President when the court investigated alleged war crimes committed by US soldiers in Afghanistan. His successor Biden reversed these.