EU Council chief says US sanctions threaten ICC’s independence

Brussels: European Council chief Antonio Costa on Friday warned sanctions on the International Criminal Court (ICC) were a threat to the wider judicial system, after US President Donald Trump punished the court over its probes into America and Israel.
“Sanctioning the ICC threatens the Court’s independence and undermines the international criminal justice system as a whole,” Costa, who heads the body representing the EU’s 27 member states, wrote on X.
Israel on Friday praised US President Donald Trump for imposing sanctions on the International Criminal Court, calling the court’s actions against Israel “immoral” and illegitimate.
“I strongly commend @POTUS President Trump’s executive order imposing sanctions on the so-called ‘international criminal court’,” Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said on X, adding the ICC’s actions were “immoral and have no legal basis.”