The Council of Europe intends to use the rare summit to be held in Reykjavik this week to show unity in holding Russia accountable for the invasion of Ukraine and to find ways to bring justice to Ukrainian citizens.
“Ukraine will be number 1, 2 and 3 on the agenda. It is the main issue that we are focusing on, because we have no army and we have no money, but we have our rules that all Member States compromised, just like Russia had done before being expelled for blatantly violating our international obligations by unilaterally invading another member state,” emphasized the President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, Tiny Kox.
Between May 16 and 17, the Icelandic capital will host the summit of heads of state and government of the organization’s 46 member states, its fourth summit since its inception in 1949.
As a ‘guarantee of human rights’, the Council of Europe must find “ways to ensure that justice is done to the state of Ukraine, to the structures of Ukraine, but also to the citizens of Ukraine”, Tiny Kox stressed in an interview with the agency Lusa ahead of the event.
“And on the other side [tem de garantir] that there will be no impunity: whoever starts a war of aggression will sooner or later be held accountable, which means we have to find ways to deal with the crime of aggression,” he added.
At the Reykjavík summit, the Council of Europe intends to adopt a mechanism for recording damage caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
This mechanism, which it is developing, will allow all Ukrainian citizens who consider themselves victims of the war caused by Russia to register their damages.
Portugal, which will be represented at the summit by Prime Minister António Costa, has already expressed its intention to support the establishment of this mechanism from day one.
The Ambassador of Portugal’s Permanent Mission to the Council of Europe, Gilberto Jerónimo, told Lusa that “Portugal has always been at the forefront of negotiations” and that “it wants to stay ahead”.
Tiny Kox stressed that this registration mechanism is “unique, it is under the auspices of the Council of Europe in the form of an extended partial agreement”.
As it is a formula used by other structures such as the Venice Commission, he added, it has the advantage of not having to be ratified by the 46 member states and can start immediately after approval at the summit.
The Council of Europe’s deputy secretary-general, Bjørn Berge, said that this damage register will physically “probably be located in The Hague, in the Netherlands, but will also have its office in Kiev”.
The Council of Europe also wants to debate among member states the creation of an ‘ad hoc’ tribunal to try the Russian crime of aggression against Ukraine, over which the International Criminal Court (ICC) has no jurisdiction, and even a ‘compensation mechanism’ . to find ways to “get justice done as quickly as possible”.
Another topic that the Council of Europe wants to discuss among member states is the “kidnapping of Ukrainian children” by Moscow and their deportation to Russia or to areas controlled by Russian troops for re-education.
Regarding the role the organization can play in this matter, Bjørn Berge stressed that the organization can put the issue “at the top of the agenda” and “raise awareness in all Member States”, referring to the Council of Europe’s recent report on the theme, elaborated Portuguese socialist deputy Paulo Pisco.
Following approval by the Committee on Migration and Refugees of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), the report was discussed at the end of April in the assembly, which drafted a resolution demanding the safe return of Ukrainian children to their families.
Founded in 1949 to defend human rights, democracy and the rule of law, the Council of Europe currently has 46 member states, including all countries that make up the European Union (EU), after Russia was expelled from membership last year.
Source: DN
