Brussels: Europe and the Arabs
Following the Core Group meeting on the establishment of a special court for the crime of aggression against Ukraine
The EU's foreign policy coordinator, Maya Kallas, told reporters in Brussels on Tuesday evening: "We have taken further steps towards the establishment of a special court for the crime of aggression against Ukraine. There must be a clear division between war crimes and crimes of aggression.
War crimes can be prosecuted by the International Criminal Court, but the crime of aggression can only be prosecuted by a special court.
The crime of aggression is clearly a leadership crime, and therefore without the crime of aggression there would be no war crimes either. Therefore, it is very important that there is also accountability for the crime of aggression.
None of Russia's leaders is immune. This is the message that this court is sending.
Of course, Ukraine, the [European] External Action Service, the European Commission, the Council of Europe, and also 37 countries have participated in this process. There is broad international support for this initiative and this also reflects the shared commitment to accountability, which is important so that no one is truly immune.
Accountability is also an integral part of a just peace And permanent, as the courts must be established before the end of the war. Our experts are concluding work on the basic legal text of the court. It is also very important to send a signal that crimes that are not punished only encourage further aggression.
That is why this work is so important, and that we move forward with the special court. It is a great advance in the main principles. Of course, there are many legal issues around such a court, but I think that the lawyers have done an excellent job and we can certainly take further steps in this regard.
In response to a question that said "We have just heard that there are 41 countries participating in the core group. How do you appreciate the international, or even global, recognition and support for this initiative? We know that the European Union has tried very hard to involve as many parties as possible in this matter, politically. The second question also goes in this direction. US President Donald Trump wants to negotiate with Putin. Of course, we have this goal in parallel, which is to achieve the highest judgment. "This court will be created in order to claim that Putin committed the greatest possible crime, which is the crime of aggression. How do you think the establishment of this court will affect these negotiations?
“First of all, we have a saying: when there are three lawyers, there are four opinions. So having lawyers who agree on the basic principles can’t be a big deal. And while there were different opinions on how to create these courts, that’s why I think now there is an understanding on how to create them, and that’s why this is the basis for really inviting other countries. It has to be an international court, so there are countries from the European Union but also from outside the European Union. And given what’s happening in the world, it’s in the interest of every country in the world that this international law is further developed so that it also includes very clear rules of accountability. So I really invite all countries to join this initiative, and we can move forward with this,” Kallas responded. “I think there is no doubt that Putin committed the crime of aggression – that he made a decision to attack another country, to attack the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine. And he was quite explicit about that. This is a crime of aggression, a crime of leadership, and without this crime there would not have been any killings on the ground, there would not have been any attacks on civilian infrastructure, on civilians, on the ground rapes. And the two things are very much interconnected. So we cannot say that the crime of aggression goes unpunished, because other crimes will not go unpunished either. And if we say that we are punishing – and the International Criminal Court will prosecute war crimes – we cannot ignore the crime of aggression. And I think that this is also part of the pressure on Putin, on the regime, to really stop this war, and to give a clear signal to other aggressors or “potential” aggressors in the world who might be thinking of attacking neighboring countries. Because no one will get away with the crimes they have committed. And that’s why I think these signals are important. Of course, it’s up to everyone to decide who will talk to whom, but it’s clear that we have to continue the work of this court for accountability and a just peace in Ukraine.