The EU on Friday said it "deeply regrets" the US decision to impose sanctions on United Nations expert Francesca Albanese after she criticised Washington's policy on Gaza.
"The European Union strongly supports the United Nations human rights system and we deeply regret the decision to impose sanctions on Francesca Albanese," said EU spokesman Anouar El Anouni.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Wednesday announced Washington was sanctioning the UN special expert on the Palestinian territories, following her criticism of Washington policy on Gaza.
The UN warned Thursday that Washington was setting a "dangerous precedent" by imposing the sanctions and called for the cancellation of the action.
United Nations rights chief Volker Turk also called for a halt to "attacks and threats" against people appointed by the UN and international institutions like the International Criminal Court, whose judges have also been hit with US sanctions.
Albanese has faced harsh criticism by Israel and some of its allies over her relentless criticism and long-standing accusations that Israel is committing "genocide" in Gaza.
The Italian-born expert, who assumed her mandate in 2022, released a damning report this month denouncing companies -- many of them American -- that she said "profited from the Israeli economy of illegal occupation, apartheid, and now genocide" in the occupied Palestinian territories.
The report provoked a furious Israeli response, while some of the companies also raised objections.
Washington last month slapped sanctions on four ICC judges, in part over the court's arrest warrant for Netanyahu, barring them from the United States.
UN special rapporteurs like Albanese are independent experts who are appointed by the UN rights council but do not speak on behalf of the United Nations.
