BRUSSELS - The European Parliament awarded its 2026 Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought to the International Criminal Court and its staff Thursday, using the European Union's highest human-rights honor to support a tribunal facing sweeping new sanctions from the United States.

European Parliament President Roberta Metsola announced the decision in Strasbourg, where lawmakers responded with a standing ovation. She said the prize recognizes the court's work defending international law and justice. The award ceremony will take place during Parliament's December session.

The ICC, based in The Hague, was created under the Rome Statute and began operating in 2002. It is a court of last resort for genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and the crime of aggression when national systems are unwilling or unable to conduct genuine proceedings.

The award comes less than two weeks after President Donald Trump's administration imposed sanctions on the court as an institution. The measures restrict its access to U.S.-based financial services, technology providers and dollar transactions, and give American companies and individuals six months to wind down business with the tribunal.

Washington objects to ICC investigations involving the United States and Israel, neither of which is a party to the Rome Statute. The administration has also condemned the court's arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defense minister Yoav Gallant over alleged crimes connected to the Gaza war. Israel rejects the accusations and disputes the court's jurisdiction.

ICC President Tomoko Akane welcomed the prize, saying it affirmed the importance of independent judicial institutions while the court and its employees face unprecedented challenges. The sanctions can affect ordinary operations including banking, software, communications and payments to staff and suppliers.

EU leaders have urged the United States to reverse the measures and directed the European Commission to prepare ways to protect the court and European companies that provide it services. One option is the bloc's blocking statute, which can prohibit European businesses from complying with certain foreign sanctions and help them recover resulting losses.

The Sakharov Prize was created in 1988 and named for Soviet physicist and dissident Andrei Sakharov. It honors people and organizations defending human rights and fundamental freedoms. Past recipients include Nelson Mandela, Malala Yousafzai, Alexei Navalny and democratic movements resisting authoritarian rule.

The ICC was chosen over imprisoned Tanzanian opposition leader Tundu Lissu and Iranian sisters Taraneh and Romina Rahimi, who were nominated on behalf of people persecuted by Iran's rulers. Parliament's political group leaders made the final selection after a divided process in which no candidate initially held a clear majority.

A prize cannot keep a court operating

The award carries moral weight, but the ICC's immediate problem is practical. Courts cannot function on applause. They need secure communications, reliable banking, protected evidence systems and professionals willing to work without fearing that ordinary service contracts will expose them to punishment.

The United States has legitimate questions about the reach of a treaty it never joined. No international institution should be immune from scrutiny, and the ICC has faced criticism over slow cases, limited convictions, uneven enforcement and jurisdictional theories that powerful governments contest. Support for accountability does not require pretending the court is flawless.

Yet sanctioning the institution itself is a blunt instrument. It risks disabling investigations far beyond the disputes that anger Washington, including cases involving atrocities in countries that asked for the court's help. It also creates a troubling precedent that authoritarian governments can imitate whenever independent judges examine their officials or military partners.

American power is strongest when it supports rules that can be defended in public, not merely outcomes favored by the government of the moment. The United States helped build the postwar system of tribunals and accountability even while remaining outside the ICC. Using financial dominance to isolate a court may protect short-term sovereignty claims, but it can weaken the legal architecture Washington wants applied to Russian war crimes and other abuses by hostile states.

Europe also has to move beyond symbolism. If EU governments believe the court is essential, they must ensure that European banks, cloud providers and contractors can lawfully continue serving it. That requires clear regulations, legal protection and contingency systems, not only speeches at an awards ceremony.

The court, for its part, must earn solidarity through rigorous evidence, consistent legal standards and visible respect for due process. Its authority depends on law rather than popularity. When it investigates democratic allies, the burden of precision is especially high because weak reasoning gives critics an excuse to dismiss every case as politics.

The Sakharov Prize recognizes people who continue their work when power tries to silence them. For the ICC, the honor is both support and a demand: remain independent, prove every allegation and resist pressure from Washington, Moscow, Beijing or any other capital. International justice survives only when the rules are credible enough to constrain friends as well as enemies.