The European Union has reaffirmed its support for the International Criminal Court (ICC) and said the tribunal must be able to work “free from pressure, intimidation or interference”. The declaration came three days after Washington announced a campaign to dismantle the court.
Issued on July 16 to mark International Criminal Justice Day, the statement was made by High Representative Kaja Kallas on behalf of the 27 member states. It called the ICC the cornerstone of the international criminal justice system and urged all countries to cooperate fully with it.
The EU said it also supported protecting international courts and their officials from threats or sanctions. No country was named in the text.
The US State Department announced on July 13 what it called a whole-of-government campaign to disable the court’s ability to operate or to target Americans. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, in a video message and an article in the Wall Street Journal, accused the ICC of waging war on his country through law rather than weapons.
Rubio wrote that Washington would work with any willing ally to dismantle the court “brick by brick, if necessary”. A State Department official told Reuters the campaign would involve travel bans, visa revocations, further sanctions and pressure on other governments to quit the ICC.
Countries hosting US forces or sheltering under American security guarantees are being asked to reject the court’s authority over US officials and troops, the official said.
All 27 EU member states are parties to the Rome Statute, the 1998 treaty that created the court. Hungary reversed its planned withdrawal in May, weeks after Péter Magyar replaced Viktor Orbán as prime minister.
US President Donald Trump signed an executive order in February 2025 declaring a national emergency over ICC investigations into US and Israeli nationals. Nine court personnel were later sanctioned, among them judges and the prosecutor, along with United Nations special rapporteur Francesca Albanese and three Palestinian rights groups.
Three sitting judges sued the Trump administration in New York on June 24, the first such challenge brought by members of the ICC bench. Kimberly Prost of Canada, Solomy Balungi Bossa of Uganda and Reine Alapini-Gansou of Benin argue the measures are unlawful and intended to coerce them.
The court issued arrest warrants in November 2024 for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defence minister Yoav Gallant over the Gaza war, and for three Hamas leaders. It has sought Russian President Vladimir Putin’s arrest since March 2023.
The US, Israel and Russia are not members. The court’s 125 member states vote on July 24 on whether to remove chief prosecutor Karim Khan, suspended in June over sexual misconduct allegations he denies.
