Fico: International Criminal Court Ridiculous, I wonder If It's Time to Scrap It

Bratislava, February 25 (TASR) - Politically motivated judicial decisions and political decisions to ignore them are a manifestation of the decay of the international law system, Prime Minister Robert Fico (Smer-SD) said in response to the information that the winner of the German parliamentary election, Friedrich Merz, wants to invite Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Germany, even though the International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued an arrest warrant for him. "I don't doubt for a second that the ICC arrest warrants for Vladimir Putin or Benjamin Netanyahu were politically motivated. But how should we respond to them? By ignoring them, even though we recognise the jurisdiction of the ICC?" asks the premier on a social network. "If someone mentioned the ICC to me a few years ago, I felt seriousness and respect. It's ridiculous today," added Fico, asking whether it's time to scrap the ICC. Merz said on Monday (February 24) that he'll ensure that Netanyahu "can come to visit" Germany. The Israeli prime minister is the subject of an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court on suspicion of war crimes and crimes against humanity. Merz wants to find a way for Netanyahu to come to Germany and leave again without being arrested. According to the head of Germany's conservative CDU/CSU bloc, it's "absolutely absurd" that the Israeli premier shouldn't be able to visit Germany. am/mcs