August 23, 2002

Press Release

The U.S. and the International Criminal Court

There is no connection between the decision of the U.S. Government to support any candidate for NATO membership and their individual decision to sign an agreement regarding treatment of U.S. citizens by the International Criminal Court. The U.S. Government has never suggested such linkage to the Government of Estonia. Moreover, there is no linkage between this issue and Prime Minister Kallas' forthcoming visit to Washington, which was scheduled long before the question of Article 98 agreements came to public attention.

The U.S. is pursuing Article 98 agreements bilaterally with a number of countries, including Estonia. Press discussion of what the U.S. might do if we do not reach such agreements is speculation. U.S. officials have said that if the U.S. is unable to reach Article 98 agreements with certain countries, we would have to discuss the matter in appropriate fora.