Lithuania's President calls ICC withdrawal 'hardly conceivable' amid US pressure

Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda has expressed strong reservations about the possibility of Lithuania withdrawing from the International Criminal Court (ICC), calling it a "hardly conceivable action." His comments come amid reports that the U.S. is pressuring countries hosting American troops to reconsider their ICC membership, particularly after the court issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin.

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No one raises the question like that. But for a country that caused applause for the ICC's decision to issue an arrest warrant for Vladimir Putin – excuse me, how should we explain this to our people?

Nausėda questioned how Lithuania could explain such a move to its citizens, especially given the country's support for the ICC's decision regarding Putin. He proposed that if faced with a direct U.S. condition for troop deployment, Lithuania could explore regulating certain aspects through bilateral agreements to avoid a conflict over ICC jurisdiction. "We can regulate certain things through bilateral agreements without creating a conflict between withdrawing or not withdrawing, remaining under the ICC's jurisdiction and regulating certain matters," he stated.

The President highlighted that 27 European Union member states are signatories to the Rome Statute, the treaty that established the ICC. He stressed that withdrawing from the court under these circumstances would be a difficult step to justify. Reports indicate that U.S. officials have conveyed to Lithuania the sensitivity of the ICC issue for nations hosting American soldiers, raising concerns about compliance with obligations.

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Certain things can be regulated through bilateral agreements without creating a conflict between withdrawing or not withdrawing, remaining under the ICC's jurisdiction and regulating certain matters.

While Lithuania has not received a direct request from the U.S. to leave the ICC, the country has not only signed the Rome Statute but also approached the court regarding Russian war crimes. The U.S. has intensified its campaign against the ICC, which it accuses of posing an "intolerable threat to U.S. sovereignty," and has threatened further sanctions and pressure on other nations to follow suit. The EU has strongly condemned the U.S. actions.

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If the question is raised in a more concrete form in the future – I think we would propose precisely such an option. But to talk about withdrawing from the ICC now, when 27 European Union (EU) member states are part of it – it is a completely hard-to-conceive action.