The EU Commission announced on Wednesday they will seek the creation of an international tribunal to investigate Russian crimes in Ukraine.
100.000 soldiers and 20.000 civilians. This, according to Ursula Von der Leyen, is the death toll suffered by Ukraine since February 24th. The President of the EU Commission spoke in Brussels supporting Ukrainian efforts against the illegal invasion of Russia.
It is unclear how she managed to get those numbers, though it is no secret that Ukraine’s military command often dialogues with their European colleagues. In any case, the EU considers Russia responsible for the invasion and for the damages done to Ukraine.
Since the sweeping Ukrainian counter-offensive that retook Kherson, Russia did not have the means to attack back. The only way they could retaliate was through heavy bombing campaigns all over the invaded country. Such bombings often aimed at civilian targets, disrupting basic supplies like electricity, heating and water.
The European Union, after the initial months of hesitation, seems now to be more united in their responses against Russia. Germany could finally agree to a price cap on Russian gas, and a similar measure for Russian oil will be implemented from December 5th.
Last week, the European Parliament also declared Russia a “state that promotes terrorism,” referring to the countless war crimes done in Ukraine. Indeed, that was Von Der Leyen’s focus on today’s speech.
The EU Commission announced an effort to create an international tribunal for Russian war crimes. “Russian horrific crimes will not go unpunished,” she concluded.
What is an international tribunal
The international tribunal seeked by the EU Commission needs jurisdiction to investigate war crimes in Russia. For this, it needs cooperation from the United Nations and most of the international community.
International tribunals already exist, and have many times tried war criminals for their deeds. Usually, however, such tribunals start their investigation only after the war is over, for logical reasons.
The most famous tribunal of this kind is the Hague International Criminal Court (ICC). Its most famous trial in recent years concerned war crimes committed in the Yugoslavian wars back in the 90s.
The ICC already started an investigation on Russian war crimes in Ukraine, but its efforts are tampered by the lack of jurisdiction. This is why the EU Commission proposed the creation of another tribunal with a shared effort with the international community.
They also declared that Russian assets in Europe must be seized to fund recovery for Ukraine. €300 billion in state-owned foreign reserves have already been frozen by Europe, along with €19 billion in oligarchs’ private properties.
Europe is now studying the legal justification to seize these money and donate them to Ukraine for rebuilding the country.
For now, nothing is set in stone. But the European Union is moving at a faster pace, and has already done a lot in the last few months. It remains to be seen if such moves will threaten European unity. Again.
