Brussels, 14/10/2015 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday 13 October, High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini stated that the report published the same day by the Dutch Safety Board was “an important step to shed full light on the downing of flight MH17” on 17 July 2014 - when a Malaysian Airlines plane was struck down over eastern Ukraine, leaving 298 people dead.
This report “puts an end to 15 months of speculation over a number of key facts related to the crash”, Mogherini said in a press release. The report concludes that the plane “was hit by a so-called BUK-missile, and explicitly rules out other options”, Mogherini states, adding that the report defines a 320 square kilometre area in eastern Ukraine from where the missile was launched. The report also says that the Ukrainian authorities should have closed the airspace above the east of the country due to the conflict taking place there.
Stating that United Nations Security Council Resolution 2166 stipulates that those directly or indirectly responsible for the attack on flight MH17 should be held responsible and brought to justice, Mogherini called on all states in a position to help with the investigation and prosecution of those responsible to fully cooperate with the ongoing criminal investigation.
She also reiterated the EU's “full support” to the work of the joint investigation team and to the ongoing efforts to establish an effective prosecution mechanism to ensure that the perpetrators of the attack on flight MH17 are identified and brought to justice. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)