NICOSIA (Dispatches) – European Union governments cannot pick and choose whether to execute arrest warrants issued by the International Criminal Court against two Zionist regime officials, the EU’s foreign policy chief said on Saturday.
The ICC issued the warrants on Thursday against Zionist prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his former war minister Yoav Gallant, for crimes against humanity.
All EU member states are signatories to the ICC’s founding treaty, called the Rome Statute.
Several EU states have said they will meet their commitments under the statute if needed, but Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has invited Netanyahu to visit his country, assuring him he would face no risks if he did so.
“The states that signed the Rome convention are obliged to implement the decision of the court. It’s not optional,” Josep Borrell, the EU’s top diplomat, said during a visit to Cyprus for a workshop of Israeli and Palestinian peace activists.
Those same obligations were also binding on countries aspiring to join the EU, he said.
“It would be very funny that the newcomers have an obligation that current members don’t fulfill,” he told Reuters.
The United States rejected the ICC’s decision.
U.S. Senator, Tom Cotton, has threatened military action against the International Criminal Court (ICC) after it issued arrest warrants for the Zionist regime officials, invoking a controversial U.S. law known as “The Hague Invasion Act”.
In an inflammatory statement on social media, Cotton, who is funded by the notorious The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), declared: “The ICC is a kangaroo court and Karim Khan is a deranged fanatic. Woe to him and anyone who tries to enforce these outlaw warrants. Let me give them all a friendly reminder: the American law on the ICC is known as The Hague Invasion Act for a reason. Think about it.”
The American Service-Members’ Protection Act, nicknamed “The Hague Invasion Act”, was passed in 2002 to shield U.S. personnel and allies from ICC prosecution. The law authorizes the U.S. President to use “all means necessary and appropriate” – including military force – to free any American or allied personnel detained by the ICC in The Hague.
Cotton’s threat comes after ICC pre-trial judges issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant on charges of using starvation as a method of warfare and crimes against humanity including murder, persecution and other inhumane acts in Gaza. The Court determined there were “reasonable grounds” that the Zionist regime’s siege and assault on Gaza “created conditions of life calculated to bring about the destruction of part of the civilian population”.
ICC member states including France, UK and Canada have indicated that Netanyahu would be arrested if he entered their country. “If Netanyahu comes to Britain, our obligation under the Rome Convention would be to arrest him under the warrant from the ICC” said Emily Thornberry, Labour Chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee.