Kaja Kallas said Monday the EU seeks ways to keep the International Criminal Court operating before latest U.S. sanctions against the court take effect, with the blocking statute a last resort, Anadolu Agency reported.
Kallas said the ICC does not target countries. The European External Action Service (EEAS) says the court prosecutes individuals responsible for serious crimes when a state is unwilling or unable to prosecute them. Kallas said the world needs “more accountability, not less,” Anadolu Agency reported.
She also said the EU had just under six months to develop alternatives and described the blocking statute as one option but a last resort, Anadolu Agency reported. In an Oct. 12 statement, the EEAS said the United States had announced sanctions against the ICC as an institution but delayed their entry into force, leaving room for diplomacy.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio raised Washington’s objections to the ICC in a meeting with French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot, the Associated Press reported.
The European Commission has been assessing whether the EU’s blocking statute could shield companies that serve the ICC from the U.S. measures. At an Oct. 19 briefing, the Commission said it had discussed possible use of the statute with EU member states and contacted countries party to the ICC about practical protections. It said it had no definitive date or time for possible activation and would not prejudge whether to use it. The statute shields EU operators from the effects of specified foreign laws; applying it could help companies continue providing financial and other services to the court.
The Group of Seven (G7) foreign ministers’ meeting in Paris is scheduled to continue Tuesday. France’s foreign ministry said ministers are due to discuss the Middle East and Ukraine.
