As a potential complement to the “Register of Damage” caused by Russia’s war against Ukraine, the principle of an “International Compensation Mechanism” funded by frozen Russian assets was unanimously adopted by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe at its spring plenary session on Tuesday 16 April.
“The obligation to pay reparations for the violation of international law is well established”, explained Lulzim Basha (EPP/CD, Albanian), rapporteur for the text and the accompanying resolution.
“Russian sovereign assets must be seized and transferred to an international compensation mechanism, concluded under the auspices of the Council of Europe with its member and non-member states. These assets will then be used to compensate Ukraine, affected entities as well as natural and legal persons, for damages caused by the Russian Federation’s unlawful acts accompanying its illegal invasion”.
“Now is the time for Council of Europe member States to move from sanctions to countermeasures”, states the Resolution, which defines the notion of “countermeasures” in the context of international law.
These are aimed at a State “which has seriously violated international law” in order to induce it “to cease its unlawful behaviour or to comply with its obligations arising from that conduct, such as paying compensation for damages caused”.
“The legitimacy of the recommended countermeasures remains unassailable within the framework of sovereign immunity”, the Assembly states.
At this stage, the total amount of frozen Russian assets is estimated at US$300 billion.
According to the Resolution, they could be deposited in an “international trust fund” managed by an “impartial and effective international claims commission”.
Present in Strasbourg, Ruslan Stefanchuk, President of the Ukrainian Rada, said after the vote that “this unanimous decision made by the Parliamentary Assembly will set a new benchmark for other international organisations that will inspire them to follow this path and to show that, in the third year of this horrible war, this is the support that Ukraine needs”.
He also called on European governments to support the Ukrainian people “not only with words but also by providing them with the equipment needed to end this war”.
Link to the Resolution: https://aeur.eu/f/btf (Original version in French by Véronique Leblanc)