Strongly condemning the deportation of Ukrainian children to Russia, described by some as a war crime or a form of genocide, representatives of the European Parliament’s political groups called on Wednesday 19 April for the execution of the International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrant against Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Commissioner for Children’s Rights, Maria Lvova-Belova.
During the plenary debate, Swedish minister Jessika Roswall, on behalf of the EU Council, as well as European Commission Vice-President Věra Jourová, also stressed the need for all ICC States Parties to respect the warrant.
16,000 Ukrainian children have reportedly been deported and only 300 are thought to have been returned to their families.
According to Jaak Madison (Estonian), on behalf of the ID group, the EU should send a “very clear” message to third countries that are part of the ICC of the risk of very clear consequences, such as sanctions or a decrease in financial support, if they do not arrest Mr Putin if he visits their territory.
“We have been saying ‘never again’ for a long time”, explained Rasa Juknevičienė (EPP, Lithuanian), recalling the deportations under the USSR, including her family, while other MEPs made reference to the Nazis. In her view, the ICC warrant gives hope that this time those responsible will be tried so that “’never again’ will not remain just words”.
On behalf of Renew Europe, Petras Auštrevičius (Lithuanian) called on the EU and the international community “to deploy all possible means to locate and return the children”. Malin Björk from Sweden, for The Left, also said that the deportations should be responded to with all the means available to Europeans.
Addressing the Russian President directly, Pedro Marques (Portuguese), on behalf of the S&D group, asked Mr Putin, if he had “an ounce of humanity”, to stop the deportation of children and send them home. “One day they will remember and we will make them remember and they will turn on you”, he warned.
More broadly, many MEPs expressed their support for the work of the ICC. “The ICC must be strengthened, more countries must participate in it”, Mr Björk said. Ms Roswall also called for further support for the Court, while Ms Jourová recalled that the Commission had given €10 million to help the Court in its work in Ukraine.
The Vice-President also explained that the EU had imposed sanctions in connection with the deportations of 16 people, including on Ms Lvova-Belova, and that it was “possible” that others would follow. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)