Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, said in Brussels on Thursday that she is working with the United Nations, with Secretary-General António Guterres, to help locate and organize the return of Ukrainian children deported by Russia. The UN, the European official said, offered the availability of its agencies for this purpose.
Von der Leyen declares itself “committed” to creating an initiative to help rescue Ukrainian children deported from Ukraine to Russia and now wants to raise awareness among the international community of what it classifies as a criminal act.
“It is a terrible reminder of the darkest times in our history,” said the European Commission president, who called the deportation of children “a war crime”.
“We know today that out of 16,200 deported children, only 300 have returned so far,” he complained, as “these criminal actions fully justify the arrest warrants issued by the ICC.”
Ursula von der Leyen says she is “committed” to ensuring that children return to their families of origin, and in collaboration with Ukraine’s Prime Minister, Denys Shmygal, Poland’s President, Matausz Moravieki, launched an initiative “with the aim of returning these children who were kidnapped by Russia”.
On the basis of this partnership, an international conference will be organized to raise awareness of the issue, with the aim of “creating international pressure to take all possible measures and determine the whereabouts of these children”.
“We are committed to helping the UN and international organizations obtain the best and most complete information on children deported to Russia, including children who have already been adopted or transferred to Russian host families,” he said, saying he was already working together with the United States.
“I am very grateful to the UN Secretary General, António Guterres, for offering the support to UN agencies who, of course, have a lot of experience in this very difficult subject,” she said.
The issue was discussed this Thursday at the European summit where the 27 pledged to continue military aid to Ukraine, including sending missiles if requested.
The summit was attended by the Ukrainian president, in an intervention via videoconference, from Ukraine, on a train journey, on his way back to Kiev, after being with soldiers at the front of the battle of Bakhmut yesterday.
Zelensky asked for modern fighter jets and long-range missiles.
Source: DN
