“Europe must be consistent and ensure that this crime of aggression can be brought before an international court. [...] This is legally possible. All that is needed is the political will”, the Latvian President, Egils Levits, told the European Parliament on Tuesday 14 February.
He recalled that no court was able to try the perpetrators of the crime of aggression in Ukraine at the moment because of the immunity of the persons concerned. He welcomed the European Parliament’s resolution calling for a special tribunal in January (see EUROPE 13103/22), as well as the European Commission’s announcement on the establishment of an “International Centre for the Prosecution of the Crime of Aggression in Ukraine (ICPA)” (see EUROPE 13109/1, 13109/2).
The special tribunal, he said, was “necessary not only for justice in Ukraine, but also not to undermine the standard of international law that has been achieved since the Second World War”, he insisted.
Rule of law
Apart from the subject of the war in Ukraine, the Latvian President dwelt at length on the importance of the principles of the Rule of law in his speech to MEPs. He said that some countries are moving away from this: “Member States have, in principle, stable and consolidated democracies. However, they face serious challenges. The most obvious of these is the desire to limit the Rule of law on the basis of populist arguments about the will of the people”, he said.
The principles of the Rule of law, however, are at the heart of European identity and should be protected. He particularly emphasised the importance of the independence of judges within the judicial systems of the Member States. And he added: “When there is a problem in one Member State, it affects the whole EU”. (Original version in French by Léa Marchal)