The International Claims Commission for Ukraine was launched on Tuesday 16 December in The Hague at a high-level conference hosted by Alain Berset, Secretary General of the Council of Europe, and Dick Schoof, Prime Minister of the Netherlands.
A number of high-ranking European officials were present, including the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Kaja Kallas, and the President of Moldova, Maia Sandu.
Already backed by the signatures of 35 countries and the European Union, this commission follows on from the ‘Register of Damage for Ukraine’, which has registered 86,000 claims since its launch in 2023.
The new commission - based in The Hague - will have to rule on these requests and define the amounts to be paid.
Its implementation will be supported by the European Union, announced Kaja Kallas, who has promised the Secretary General of the Council of Europe €1 million for this purpose.
What remains to be done is to create a ‘Compensation Fund’ to complement the Register of Damage and the Claims Commission.
Alain Berset has said that he expects this to be in place “within 12 to 18 months”.
He also announced that work on the establishment of a Special Tribunal for the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine would be launched “in the coming days”.
Its creation was formalised by the signing of an international treaty between the Council of Europe and Ukraine on 25 June in Strasbourg. (Original version in French by Véronique Leblanc)