The European Union was the main promoter of the establishment of the International Criminal Court (ICC) against the reserves of the United States. Without the strong support of the Europeans, the ICC could have foundered when George W. Bush withdrew its support in 2002 for the Rome Statute, which had been signed by his predecessor Bill Clinton.
Since then, Member States have relentlessly defended the International Criminal Court as “cornerstone in the fight against impunity and to help victims of atrocities achieve justice.” In the last statement approved unanimously in June 2023the Twenty-seven confirmed their “unwavering support” for the ICC as “independent and impartial judicial institution”.
Besides, The EU committed to “full cooperation” with the Court, in particular with the “prompt execution of the outstanding arrest warrants.” And to “defend” this court based in The Hague from “any attempt to undermine her work and any threats against her and her staff.
[El fiscal de la Corte Penal Internacional pide órdenes de arresto contra la cúpula de Hamás y Netanyahu]
This absolute confidence of the EU in the work of the ICC has been totally broken after the arrest warrants requested this Monday by his prosecutor, Karim Kahnagainst the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, his Defense Minister and senior Hamas leaders for war crimes and crimes against humanity. A decision that has once again brought to light the great internal differences regarding the conflict in the Middle East.
While member countries such as Belgium or Slovenia support prosecutor Kahn, others such as the Czech Republic or Austria decry the fact that the Israeli prime minister is placed on the same level as Hamas. The head of community diplomacy, Josep Borrell, that he did support the ICC arrest warrant against Vladimir Putinhas not done the same with Netanyahu when there is no common EU position.
Borrell has limited himself to taking note of the arrest warrants, but Yes, he has recalled the EU’s support for the Court. “The ICC’s mandate, as an independent international institution, is to prosecute the most serious crimes under international law. “All States that have ratified the ICC statutes are obliged to implement the Court’s decisions,” he noted.
“The proposal of the ICC attorney general to issue an arrest warrant against representatives of a democratically elected government together with the leaders of an Islamist terrorist organization It is deplorable and completely unacceptable.“, wrote the Czech Prime Minister, Peter Fiala, on your social network account.
“We must not forget that it was Hamas that attacked Israel in October and killed, injured and kidnapped thousands of innocent people. It was this completely unprovoked terrorist attack that led to the current war in Gaza and the suffering of civilians in Gaza, Israel and Lebanon,” Fiala argues.
“We fully respect the independence of the ICC. However, it is not understandable that the leader of the terrorist organization Hamas, whose declared objective is the extinction of the State of Israel, is mentioned at the same time as the democratically elected representatives of that same State,” denounced the Austrian Chancellor, Karl Nehammer.
“The ICC chief prosecutor’s proposal against Prime Minister Netanyahu is absurd and shameful. These initiatives will not bring the Middle East closer to peace, but will only fuel more tensions,” says the Hungarian Prime Minister, Viktor Orbán.
For its part, Germanyone of Israel’s main allies in the EU, has tried to preserve a difficult balance. On the one hand, he admits that “the International Criminal Court is a fundamental achievement of the world community, which Germany has always supported.” “Germany respects its independence and its procedures like those of all other international courts,” said a Foreign Ministry spokesperson.
At the same time, Berlin denounces that the simultaneous arrest warrants create the “false impression” that Israel and Hamas are on the same level. For the Government of Olaf Scholz, the Netanyahu Government “has the right and duty to protect and defend its people”, although it must do so while respecting international humanitarian law with all its obligations.
In contrast, the Belgian Foreign Minister, Hadja Lahbib, whose country holds the current presidency of the EU, has been the first to express (in her individual capacity) her full support for the ICC prosecutor. ““The crimes committed in Gaza must be prosecuted at the highest level, regardless of their perpetrators,” Lahbib maintains.
“The request for arrest warrants presented by the Court’s prosecutor, Karim Khan, against leaders of both Hamas and Israel constitutes a important step in the investigation of the situation in Palestine“, alleged the head of Belgian diplomacy.
“War crimes and crimes against humanity committed in the territories of Israel and Palestine since at least October 7, 2023 must be pursued independently and impartially, regardless of the authors. “Slovenia is a strong supporter of the ICC and welcomes this progress in the investigation of the situation in Palestine,” its Foreign Ministry said.
After the precarious and laborious unity built in the case of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, The conflict in the Middle East has burst all the seams of foreign policy of the European Union. The enormous internal differences have prevented Brussels from assuming a relevant role even in calling for a ceasefire in Gaza.
In the last vote in the UN General Assembly on the accession of Palestine, two EU countries spoke against it: Hungary and the Czech Republic. At the opposite extreme, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Denmark, France, Greece, Ireland, Malta, Luxembourg, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Slovenia and Slovakia voted in favor.
A third group of Member States abstained: Germany, Italy, Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Romania and Sweden.
Josep Borrell and the crisis management commissioner, Janez Lenarcic, released a statement this Monday in which they denounce the attacks (by Israel, although they do not name it) against health infrastructure and civilian in Gaza and the West Bank.
“A humanitarian tragedy is unfolding in real time before our eyes. The European Union is deeply concerned about the suffering of the civilian population in Gaza. “We reiterate our calls for an immediate ceasefire, the unconditional release of all hostages and full humanitarian access,” the statement said.
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