Members of the European Parliament visit the ICC

On 25 March 2013, a delegation of the group of the “Friends of the ICC” from the European Parliament visited the International Criminal Court (ICC) and met with the President of the Court, Judge Sang-Hyun Song. Later the same day they also met with the ICC Prosecutor, Ms Fatou Bensouda and the ICC Registrar, Ms Silvana Arbia.

President Song thanked the Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) for the European Parliament's longstanding, vocal support of the ICC and recalled the important role that the European Union has played in ICC's development, from a court on paper in 2002 into the fully functioning international judicial institution that it is today.

MEPs Ms Barbara Lochbihler, Mr Helmut Scholz, Mr Mark Demesmaeker, and Ms Judith Sargentini attended the meetings and reiterated their long lasting support for the Court. The group exchanged with ICC officials on pressing issues facing the Court, including on-going ICC investigations, cases and preliminary examinations; cooperation with the ICC; protection of victims and witnesses; and the necessary financial support to the Court; amongst other issues.

The “Friends of the ICC” is an informal group of MEPs set up in the view of mainstreaming ICC issues at the European Parliament.

For further information, please contact Fadi El Abdallah, Spokesperson and Head of Public Affairs Unit, International Criminal Court, by telephone at: +31 (0)70 515-9152 or +31 (0)6 46448938 or by e-mail at: [email protected].