Interesting little report here from Reuters that the EU is applying pressure on Turkey not to host Bashir next week. The signal coming from Ankara is that they will go ahead anyway, but this kind of en-masse pressure has a better shot of success than any bilateral pressure from a single European state could ever hope to have.
The carrot of EU membership has been impressively successful in getting wannabe EU-ers to conform to EU norms, and once a new country comes into the fold, the benefits of sticking with those norms (and the diplomatic wrath incurred for stepping out of line) strengthens the norms further still. For those in favor of the ICC this group dynamic as it plays out at the EU is a promising sign. On the other hand, it is the same crowdpull that accounts for the result in the opposite direction over at the African Union. . .
Speak Your Mind