Debate: Need to address the urgent concerns surrounding Ukrainian children forcibly deported to Russia
Date: WEDNESDAY, 13 MARCH 2024
Speaker: Dubravka Šuica
Language: EN

Russia’s illegal war of aggression against Ukraine is having a devastating effect on all Ukrainians, but especially on children. The European Union is not silent in light of Russia’s unlawful deportation or transfer of Ukrainian children. This is a terrible crime inflicting unimaginable suffering. The perpetrators of these crimes must be held accountable. These children must return to their families and to their communities. To achieve this, the European Union fully supports a number of different initiatives. The European Union participates in the Ukrainian initiative to bring kids back to Ukraine, supported by President Zelenskyy’s office. This initiative will unite the efforts of the Ukrainian authorities, foreign governments and international organisations and works on returns, on accountability and on prevention. In Kyiv, the European Union is part of the Group of Friends on Children and Armed Conflict in Ukraine with other foreign missions. The European Union will also continue to support and engage with the UN’s children and armed conflict mandate, and welcomes Russia being included in the ‘list of shame’ for the first time this year. We welcome the launch of the International Coalition for the Return of Ukrainian Children on 3 February this year. The European Union will continue to follow the work of the coalition closely and is currently assessing how it can best support the coalition and its activities. The European Union is also fully committed to take all necessary efforts to ensure that those responsible for the crime of unlawful deportation or transfer of Ukrainian children are held accountable. Seventeen Member States have so far opened investigations into international crimes committed in Ukraine, and the European Union is supporting these national investigations through strengthening judicial cooperation via Eurojust. Six Member States and Ukraine are members of the joint investigation team, to which the ICC and Europol are participants. In this vein, we warmly welcome and support the issuing of arrest warrant by the International Criminal Court. The fact that the court singled out the acts of unlawful force, deportation and transfer of Ukrainian children as the war crimes as a base for the first arrest warrant since the start of Russian invasion illustrates both the urgency and severity rightly attached to the issue. The European Union has so far supported the ICC with over EUR 10 million since the beginning of the invasion. The court is a key actor for consistency and enforcement of the international criminal justice system. The European Union has been and continues to support the Prosecutor General’s Office of Ukraine to strengthen its capacities to investigate and prosecute international crimes committed in Ukraine. This also includes support for the Atrocity Crimes Advisory Group together with the US and the UK. We have financed the IT advancement of the Prosecutor General’s Office with EUR 4 million. We are furthermore dedicated to support national investigations opened into international crimes committed in Ukraine. In addition, the European Union is committed to improving the coordination of various support efforts to the Prosecutor General’s Office through the international platform of the dialogue group. Dear Members, I look forward to today’s exchange.