The High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, welcomed, on Saturday 7 March, the start, on Monday 9 March, of the criminal trial on the downing of flight MH17.
The plane was shot down over eastern Ukraine on 17 July 2014, killing 298 people of 17 nationalities, including many Europeans.
The start of the trial "marks an important milestone towards establishing the truth, and achieving justice for the victims of Flight MH17 and their next of kin, and holding those responsible for the downing" of the plane, Borrell stressed in a statement on behalf of the EU. He reaffirmed the EU's full confidence in the "independence and professionalism" of the legal procedures.
Four people - three Russians and one Ukrainian - will be tried in absentia, as their countries do not extradite their nationals. The investigation is also continuing into the involvement of other persons with the criminal investigation of the Joint Investigation Team, composed of Australia, Belgium, Malaysia, the Netherlands and Ukraine.
The EU calls on all States, including the Russian Federation, to cooperate fully with the investigation, in accordance with UN Security Council Resolution 2166, the High Representative added. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)