The Maltese Herald can reliably confirm that Germany, along with a group of other EU member states, has thwarted plans by the European Union’s outgoing High Representative, Josep Borrell, to discuss at the European Council the ICC arrest warrants against Israeli Premier Benjamin Netanyahu and his ex-defense minister.
After the International Criminal Court recently issued arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his ex-Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy made a request to EU leaders to discuss this issue at EU Council-level so that the EU comes up with a unified position.
Germany was among the first member states to oppose this item on the agenda of the EU Council meeting, though other countries also voiced their concerns. On the other hand, the EU-member states that wanted the issue to be discussed at EU Council level were in general in favour of respecting the arrest warrants by the international court. The discussions about the agenda of the EU Council meeting were made via diplomats in Brussels at the European Council while some European leaders discussed the matter in private on the phone.
France has backed down from honoring the arrest warrants and issued a statement contradicting its previous stance on the ICC arrest warrant against Russian President Vladimir Putin. The Maltese government is refusing to issue an official statement on the matter.
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