Antonio Costa, President of the European Council, has criticized US President Donald Trump’s executive order imposing sanctions on the International Criminal Court (ICC), saying it “threatens” the court’s independence.
“Sanctioning the ICC threatens the independence of the Court and undermines the system of international criminal justice as a whole,” Costa wrote on the social network X.
The reaction came a day after the European Council head met with Judge Tomoko Akane, President of the ICC.
After the meeting, Costa said the EU remains committed to ending impunity and ensuring accountability for all violations of international law.
Trump signed an executive order yesterday to sanction the ICC, accusing it of “illegitimate and unfounded actions directed against America” and, he said, America’s close ally Israel.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Galant face arrest warrants issued by a Hague court last November for war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Gaza Strip.
The Israeli army has killed more than 47,000 people in Gaza since October 7, 2023. Much of the Gaza Strip has been reduced to rubble.
