EU governments cannot pick and choose whether to execute arrest warrants issued by an international tribunal against Israeli and Hamas leaders, its outgoing foreign policy chief said on Saturday (November 23), Reuters reports.
There have been diverging reactions among European Union member states to arrest warrants issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a former Israeli defence minister and a leader of the Palestinian militant group Hamas for alleged crimes against humanity.
All EU member states are signatories the ICC's founding treaty, called the Rome Statute. Israel has denounced the warrants on its own politicians as "antisemitic".
"The states that signed the Rome convention are obliged to implement the decision of the court. It's not optional," said Josep Borrell, whose term as the European Union's top diplomat ends this month.
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 fulfil," he told Reuters.
The warrants have drawn a limp response from EU members, underscoring divisions on the Gaza war which was triggered by attacks by Hamas Palestinian militants on Israel on Oct. 7 last year.
Defying the ICC warrants, Hungary has extended an invitation to Netanyahu to visit, while EU heavyweights France and Germany have failed to clearly state if they would execute the warrants if needed.
Borrell, who was in Cyprus attending a workshop of Israeli and Palestinian peace activists, said the EU had not shown the same indecision when the ICC issued a warrant for Vladimir Putin's arrest over the invasion of Ukraine.
He also rebuffed accusations from Israel that the warrants were antisemitic, saying a phrase alluding to the "darkest periods of history" should not be used lightly.
"Every time someone disagrees with the policy of one Israeli government - (they are) being accused of antisemitism," Borrell said.
"I have the right to criticise the decisions of the Israeli government, be it Mr Netanyahu or someone else, without being accused of antisemitism. This is not acceptable. That's enough," he said.
