2023-05-16 20:30:28
The states of the Council of Europe want to hold Russia accountable for the attack on Ukraine. At their summit meeting in Iceland on Wednesday, they want to give the go-ahead for setting up a damage register for the Ukraine war. It should record all the damage caused by Russia in Ukraine, according to the draft summit statement. The register is intended to be the first step on the way to possible compensation payments.
In his speech at the summit, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz also demanded that Russia pay for the damage caused in Ukraine during the war. French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak made similar statements. The international community must continue to relentlessly support Ukraine, “a member of our European democratic family (…) as long as it is necessary,” said Macron. Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, explained that it might make Russian soldiers shy away from new war crimes in Ukraine if there was a chance that they would be held accountable.
The fourth summit of the Council of Europe, founded in 1949, will take place in Reykjavik on Tuesday and Wednesday. The organization of states, which also includes the European Court of Human Rights, sees itself as the guardian of values and human rights in Europe. The judgments of the Court of Justice are binding on the Member States. The conventions on issues such as equal rights or refugees form the legal value foundation of Europe. Russia was expelled in 2022 following the attack on Ukraine, Belarus was suspended. “The Council of Europe is more important today than it has ever been,” said Scholz.
However, Scholz and Macron warned the 46 members that they themselves had to fulfill all their obligations without any compromises. This includes consistently implementing all judgments of the European Court of Human Rights, it said, with reference to Turkey in particular. Under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, this has not implemented a number of judgments by the court belonging to the Council of Europe. Governments should see defeats in court as “a human rights gain.” There are also discussions with Great Britain because the government wants to continue deporting migrants to Rwanda, which the court objected to. In his speech, Sunak called for an intensified fight once morest illegal migration.
Scholz advocated that the Council of Europe should also take care of the protection of human rights in the digital age and the right to a “healthy environment”. Macron named ethical issues in artificial intelligence as a new field for the Council of Europe. Sunak also named cyber attacks and warned that problems had to be addressed before they became too big.
However, the focus of the first day was support for Ukraine. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy appealed in a video link that European states should supply his country with more air defense systems and fighter jets. He described it as “historic” that Ukraine was able to repel all missiles fired by Russia at Ukrainian cities on Tuesday. However, Russia claims that it was able to destroy a Patriot air defense position.
Scholz, Sunak and Macron described the damage register as a central element in coming to terms with the Ukraine war. “The register is the prerequisite for working with common data,” said Scholz regarding the amount of damage. It forms the basis for the following international talks. It is unclear, however, whether confiscated Russian assets abroad can be used to pay reparations.
Around 30 European heads of state and government traveled to Reykjavik, Iceland, for the first Council of Europe summit in almost 20 years, including Federal President Alexander Van der Bellen. The Federal President will give a speech on Wednesday.
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