Spain’s Sanchez asks EU to block US sanctions on ICC
Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez (L) looks at European Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen prior to a roundtable as part of the EU Western Balkans summit in Brussels on 17 December 2025
Sondos Asem reports in Middle East Eye on 6 May 2026:
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on Wednesday [6 May] called on the European Commission to activate the EU’s Blocking Statute to shield the International Criminal Court (ICC) and the United Nations from US sanctions.
“Spain does not look the other way,” Sanchez wrote on X. “The EU cannot stand idly by in the face of this persecution,” he added, calling on Brussels to protect the independence of both institutions and their “actions to end the genocide in Gaza”.
“Sanctioning those who defend international justice puts the entire human rights system at risk.”
Since February last year, the administration of US President Donald Trump has imposed financial and visa sanctions on 11 ICC officials and the UN special rapporteur on Palestine in connection with the ICC’s arrest warrants against Israeli leaders and its ongoing Afghanistan investigation.
The sanctions have upended the daily lives of the targeted individuals, banned them from travel to the US, and effectively cut them off from much of the global financial system, including within Europe.
The EU Blocking Statute is a regulation that aims to protect EU companies and individuals from the effects of extraterritorial sanctions imposed by third countries, essentially preventing them from complying with foreign laws that could harm their business operations within the EU, even if those laws target activities outside the EU jurisdiction.
It primarily focuses on shielding EU operators from certain US sanctions considered to have extraterritorial reach, like those against Cuba and Iran.
If activated, the Blocking Statute would assure EU-based service providers that their transactions with the ICC are protected.
The Commission has so far not triggered the mechanism, offering no public explanation for the delay, despite the European Parliament having passed resolutions calling for its activation in July and September.
The Dutch parliament last year passed a motion asking the Netherlands, as the ICC’s host, to take measures to protect the court at national and EU levels, including via the Blocking Statute, to minimise the sanctions’ impact.
MEE has contacted the Commission for comment.