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Netherlands bracing for potentially devastating US sanctions against the ICC

143 points · 131 comments · vrganj

  1. gspr · · focus · HN ↗
    It's better that they rip the badaid off like this. The EU cannot stand by if all of the ICC is hit. It's gonna be painful for all of us in Europe for a little while, but this is far better than letting any more single individuals have their lives ruined for doing their (legal!) jobs for European institutions. This has already happened too many times, and is truly shameful – let this conflict rage for real now, so that it's a burden we all have to bear together!
    1. surgical_fire · · focus · HN ↗
      The problem is that the EU is not a country, it is a bloc. Each member state is a sovereign nation.

      It is up to each member state to decide how to respond to an increasingly hostile US.

      Which is why foreign actors such as US and Russia always seem to undermine the EU and foment dissent in the bloc. A unified Europe would be much harder to push around.

      1. gspr · · focus · HN ↗
        > The problem is that the EU is not a country, it is a bloc. Each member state is a sovereign nation.

        Yes, but

        > It is up to each member state to decide how to respond to an increasingly hostile US.

        is not true. A member state cannot, for example, decide that it's fine to import and sell US beef. It is perfectly possible to introduce EU laws that protect the population of Europe from the US using European banks as a weapon against law-abiding people.

        > Which is why foreign actors such as US and Russia always seem to undermine the EU and foment dissent in the bloc. A unified Europe would be much harder to push around.

        It's a scale. I, too, wish for a more tightly integrated Europe, but that doesn't mean there is no integration whatsoever today.

        1. surgical_fire · · focus · HN ↗
          While the EU does impose a lot of regulations on trade (thankfully I might add), foreign policy in general is still up to each member state. It's how we had Orban for years licking Putin's asshole.

          I am very much in favor of a more integrated EU, including to a sort of federalization. Only with more integration we can stand up to other great powers.

          1. gspr · · focus · HN ↗
            Banking regulation is not foreign policy though.
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