European Parliament awards Sakharov Prize to the ICC, days after US sanctioned the court itself

The European Parliament awarded its 2026 Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought to the International Criminal Court and its officials on Thursday, Oct. 22. Parliament President Roberta Metsola announced the decision in Strasbourg.

The award came after the Trump administration imposed sanctions on the ICC as an institution on Oct. 9, extending measures previously aimed at individual judges and prosecutors.

"The European Union is founded on respect for multilateralism and international institutions," Metsola said. "By awarding the Sakharov Prize to the International Criminal Court and its officials, Parliament recognizes the important work carried out by the Court to uphold international law and justice." The announcement drew a standing ovation in the chamber.

How the vote came together

The Socialists and Democrats group nominated the ICC. It was one of six nominations and made a three-way shortlist with Tanzanian opposition figure Tundu Lissu and Iranian twin sisters Taraneh and Romina Rahimi.

The outcome surprised some insiders who expected Lissu to win. Sources present at the group leaders' meeting told Euronews that the center-right European People's Party and the European Conservatives and Reformists backed Lissu. Renew Europe, the Greens/EFA and The Left backed the ICC alongside the S&D.

Patriots for Europe co-leader Kinga Gál kept pushing for the Rahimi sisters. That produced a deadlock. Under Parliament's rules it would have gone to a runoff between Lissu and the ICC.

According to those sources, Gál abstained, which let the ICC's backers secure a relative majority instead.

French MEP Chloé Ridel, who nominated the court, called the result "a message of hope and resistance sent to Donald Trump." She added: "We will stand with the ICC for as long as it takes."

The sanctions timeline

President Trump signed Executive Order 14203 on Feb. 6, 2025, authorizing visa restrictions and asset freezes against people tied to the court. Earlier sanctions on court officials cited the ICC's arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defense minister Yoav Gallant, issued in November 2024. They also cited a past investigation into US troops in Afghanistan.

On Aug. 18, 2026, Washington sanctioned ICC President Tomoko Akane of Japan and senior trial lawyer Abdoulaye Seye of Senegal. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the two had taken part in efforts to investigate or prosecute officials of governments that have not accepted the court's jurisdiction.

On Oct. 9, the administration went after the court itself. By then it had sanctioned 17 individuals tied to the ICC, including judges and prosecutors. Fox News reported the move marked the first time the US had gone after the institution itself. The new measures put the court under the Treasury Department's sanctions regime and restrict transactions involving American individuals, businesses and institutions. Washington has issued several temporary, limited exemptions so specified operations can continue.

Washington's argument

Rubio has not softened his case. "The United States and the American people are not subject to the jurisdiction of this fake ICC," he said in a video message on Oct. 9. "Both parties agree on this, but only President Trump has the resolve to take the action needed to end this threat once and for all."

Rubio argues the court believes it can prosecute American service members overseas and even Border Patrol agents. There is no evidence the ICC has sought to investigate or prosecute Border Patrol agents, though Rubio raised the possibility in July.

The concern about US personnel is not entirely hypothetical. In 2017, an ICC prosecutor sought authorization for an Afghanistan investigation that reached American troops. Neither the United States nor Israel is a party to the Rome Statute, and Israel rejects the court's jurisdiction and disputes the allegations behind the Netanyahu and Gallant warrants.

The court's answer

The ICC called the Oct. 9 sanctions "an assault on the rule of law and on the very foundations of the international legal order." It said the measure targets "an independent judicial institution, created by treaty and entrusted by 125 States Parties." It also called the move "an attempt to obstruct the course of justice."

Akane said the court will keep operating.

The court's reach has limits of its own. It has no police force and depends on national governments to execute warrants. Its docket also extends beyond Israel: judges issued warrants for Russian President Vladimir Putin and Russian children's commissioner Maria Lvova-Belova in March 2023, with more warrants against Russian commanders and officials in 2024.

What comes next

The prize is symbolic. The harder question sits with the European Commission.

Parliament has repeatedly called on the Commission to activate the EU's blocking statute, which would shield ICC officials from the extraterritorial effects of US sanctions. Parliament's statement also notes that all EU member states are parties to the Rome Statute and obliged to implement the court's decisions.

The S&D nomination said the court's work has been "severely damaged" since 2025 by the US executive order, which it says targets up to nine judges and three deputy prosecutors. Euronews reported that the EU has yet to take concrete action.

The award ceremony is scheduled for December in Strasbourg. Whether the Commission acts on the blocking statute before then remains to be seen.