“The Netherlands is already considering how to protect the International Criminal Court in The Hague from the consequences of potential US sanctions.”, — write: www.pravda.com.ua
Illustrative photo by Getty Images Source: NOS, “European Truth”
Details: The head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, David van Weel, confirmed that Washington is threatening the ISS with new sanctions, and made it clear that they are preparing for this scenario.
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“Together with all participating countries, we, of course, call on the USA not to do this. But if it comes to that, we will see how we can act in those conditions,” he commented.
According to him, such preparation has been underway for some time, “but of course, we hope that it will not be needed.”
The minister noted that the priority task for this scenario is to transfer all maintenance and services used by the ISS to non-American companies, since in case of sanctions they will be prohibited from working with the ISS.
“People will no longer be able to use banking services or e-mail programs. Wherever American services are currently used, alternatives must be sought,” said van Weel.
The official admitted that it is not so easy to do: “We don’t have a completely European “cloud”, big technology companies in Europe. So even beyond the issue of the ISS, there is work for Europe here.”
Trump has previously imposed sanctions on the attorney general, two deputies, the UN special rapporteur on Palestine and six judges.
Before that, information appeared in the media that the Trump administration is putting pressure on the International Criminal Court and demanding amendments to the Rome Statute that guarantee that Trump and his team will not come under investigation. In addition, Washington is demanding an end to the investigation of Israeli leaders in connection with the war in Gaza and the official completion of a preliminary investigation into possible excesses in the actions of the American military in Afghanistan.
If these demands are not met, the US may expand sanctions against officials of the International Criminal Court and, ultimately, impose them on the court itself.
In February 2025, Trump signed a decree on sanctions against ISS officials, the main reason for which was the arrest warrant against top Israeli officials, in particular Prime Minister Netanyahu.
As you know, the ISS issued warrants for the arrest of a number of current and former top officials of the Russian Federationincluding Putin, because of Russia’s actions during the war against Ukraine – in particular, the deportation of Ukrainian children and the systematic destruction of Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.