At their meeting on Tuesday 30 April in Strasbourg, the Permanent Representatives of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the 46 member states of the Council of Europe authorised Marija Pejčinović Burić, Secretary General of the organisation, to “prepare any necessary documents” for a “possible draft agreement between the Council of Europe and the Government of Ukraine on the establishment of a Special Tribunal for the Crime of Aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine, including its Statute, and on a possible draft enlarged partial agreement governing the modalities of support to such a Tribunal, its financing and other administrative matters”.
The Secretary General is requested to “report regularly to the Deputies on the progress of work and of these consultations”.
This announcement follows the Reykjavik Declaration (May 2023), in which European heads of state and government welcomed international efforts to hold Russia’s political and military leaders to account for the war of aggression in Ukraine, and a declaration by the Ministers’ Deputies in February 2024.
In it, they expressed their willingness “to examine possible options to ensure that the Council of Europe provides expert and technical support for the establishment and, as appropriate, operation of such a Special Tribunal and provides a platform for further diplomatic efforts in this regard”. (Original version in French by Véronique Leblanc)