EU rejects Trump administration claims that ICC threatens US sovereignty

A spokesperson for the EU said: ‘The ICC does not target sovereign states, nor does it constitute a threat to their sovereignty.’ Photograph: Peter Dejong/Pool AP/AP

A spokesperson for the EU has pushed back against the Trump administration’s assertion that the international criminal court poses a threat to US sovereignty, a day after the US government said it would work to “systematically disable” a global tribunal that seeks to prosecute the perpetrators of the world’s gravest crimes.

Anouar El Anouni, an EU spokesperson, said on Tuesday: “We stand firm in our support for the international criminal court (ICC). Attacks or threats against the court, elected officials, personnel or those cooperating with the court are simply not acceptable.”