In May 2023, in Reykjavik, the Council of Europe Summit of Heads of State and Government launched a Register of damage caused by the aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine. This Register is the first step towards a compensation mechanism aimed at collecting complaints from Ukrainian people, companies and authorities on human and material damages caused by the Russian forces since 24 February 2022.

In a debate on 24 October 2023 during its 45th session, the Congress held an exchange of views with Tanja Gonggrijp, Vice-Chair of the Conference of participants of the Register, on the contribution of local and regional authorities to the Register. Ambassador Gonggrijp underlined that to be efficient the Register needed to reach out to as many people as possible: “We expect millions of claims by ordinary people who will need support to access the Register. Local elected representatives can contribute with promoting the Register and helping people with accessing it”, Mrs Gonggrijp stated.

The Congress also adopted a Resolution on the plight of anti-war political activists and prisoners of conscience in Russia and in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine, presented by the outgoing President and Rapporteur on The Russian Federation’s war against Ukraine, Leendert Verbeek (the Netherlands, SOC/G/DP).

Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine has been accompanied by an intensified crackdown on dissenters in Russia. The repression of opposition voices and of civil society voices has significantly escalated, and those who have spoken out against the war have been prosecuted using new legislation.

“The Congress deplores this escalating repression of opposition activists, stands in solidarity with those who are unjustly imprisoned for expressing their opinions and fighting for Russia’s democratic future, and calls, inter alia, for the repeal of all legislation incompatible with the right to freedom of expression.”, stressed the Rapporteur. He also called for the immediate and unconditional release of all peaceful civic and political activists deprived of liberty in Russia and expressed the hope that democracy could prevail in Russia, thereby bringing peace in Ukraine and safeguarding stability in Europe.

 Papier d'angle : "War in Ukraine: the Congress rallies around the Ukrainians and Russian dissidents"

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45th Session
Agenda – Web file – Multimedia (Live webcasts, interviews, videos and photo)