EU blasts threats against ICC as US targets court

BRUSSELS

The European Union on July 14 slammed threats against the International Criminal Court, after Washington 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.

The United States on July 13 announced a sweeping campaign against the ICC that could include further sanctions and other measures, accusing it of posing "an intolerable threat to U.S. sovereignty."

The Trump administration said it would pressure other countries to withdraw from the court, marking a sharp escalation in the U.S. effort to isolate the Hague-based institution and starve it of political and financial support.

"The ICC and its friends are waging a war against our country, not with bullets or missiles, but with statutes, compacts and the force of so-called international law," U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a video statement.

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."