The silence of EU Commission president Ursula von der Leyen regarding the International Criminal Court (ICC) decision to issue arrest warrants for Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defence minister Yoav Gallant over alleged war crimes has drawn fierce criticism from MEPs.
“Despite the overwhelming support from EU member states we have had no statement from the president of the commission,” Liberal Irish MEP Barry Andrews said on Tuesday (26 November) during a plenary debate in Strasbourg.
“That silence undermines the legitimacy of the court and international law,” he added.
Andrews also urged the commission to call on the Israeli government to extend the 90-days’ timeline for implementation of its decision to ban the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) from operating within its borders, given their key role in providing humanitarian aid in the Gaza Strip.
And he pointed out that the EU action plan on the ICC, adopted in 2011, outlines that “the EU and its member states will undertake consistent action to encourage full cooperation of states with the ICC, including the prompt execution of arrest warrants.”
Hungary, however, has already announced that it will not respect the ICC decision.
Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán, whose country holds the rotating EU council presidency, said last week that he would invite Netanyahu to visit Hungary where he would not be arrested.
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