Ladies and gentlemen.

The Icelandic poet Steinn Steinarr wrote about time and water, saying that the two rush trackless to vanish inside our consciousness.

It speaks to a truth that we all come to learn as we get older.

Time can be elusive.

Each hour has the same number of minutes, each day has the same number of hours, each week has the same number of days.

Still, we know that this is not the entire truth about how time works.

Some minutes feel like hours, while some evenings we go to sleep with the feeling that the day went by in a blink of an eye.

For us in this room, we have all lived long enough to know how some years pass quickly and fade into a growing collection of experiences and memories, most of which become irrelevant as time and our lives move on, while some experiences define us in more profound ways.

Some for better. Some for worse.

Ladies and gentlemen.

It is now almost three and a half years since Russia launched its full-scale war of aggression against Ukraine.

Three and a half years is a significant period of time in anyone’s life. And we know that the world’s attention span for news of the war in Ukraine has long since waned.

As time goes by, it also becomes increasingly difficult to fight back against Russia’s shameless and sophisticated campaigns of disinformation and lies. This is a constant struggle.

But as I said, time is elusive - and it is known that time passes quite differently depending on our age and on our context.

Three and a half years is a long time for grown-ups.

It is an eternity for children.

And for all the children of Ukraine - the completely unjustified invasion by Russia has robbed them of the careless happiness of youth that should be the birthright of all children, everywhere.

It is estimated that at least 35 thousand children have been stolen, taken away from their families or institutions. Many of them have been put through filtration camps and subjected to a system of indoctrination where they are taught to despise their motherland, are forbidden from speaking their language and forced to glorify a flag that stands for the subjugation of their kin and the destruction of their heritage.

And many suffer the horrific fate of being forced into the uniform of their enemy, are pushed to the frontlines and are forced to fight to the death against the very people who are risking their all to liberate them.

Hundreds of thousands have had to say goodbye forever to parents who have given their lives on the front line or lost them in Russia’s relentless attacks on civilian targets.

Millions more suffer from the absence of their fathers, who are fighting for their future and freedom on a brutal front line. They worry every day that their dads will die, be wounded or return home a different person than they were before being called upon to defend their country.

Millions more have been forced to flee their homes and relocate either within Ukraine or live as refugees in other countries.

For these children, each and every one of them, every day is an eternity, and three and a half years is a lifetime.

There are many cold, hard facts about the horrible consequences of the Russian Federation’s full-scale war of aggression against Ukraine.

And these facts about the effects of the war on the children of Ukraine are also cold and hard, although no normal person can avoid feeling both sadness and anger.

The safe return of the children and, ultimately, their successful reintegration into Ukrainian society, as well as the protection of children from the risk of deportation, are a priority concern for both Ukraine and the international community.

Until now, only a fraction of these children has been returned to Ukraine. The trauma experienced by these children is widespread, deep-rooted, and debilitating.

Addressing the needs of these children is a monumental challenge.

Ladies and gentlemen.

The horrible treatment of children is not a by-product of the Russian Federation’s invasion.

It is a central, strategic and systematic part of the whole ideology that underpins their aggression.

So the obvious question for all of us becomes.

What can we do to help?

***

At the Reykjavík Summit of the Council of Europe, the first step towards creating a mechanism for accountability was taken. The establishment of the Register of Damage lays a foundation for subsequent efforts to bring the Russian Federation to account for the crimes they have committed against Ukraine and its people.

During my recent fact-finding visit to Ukraine, I had the opportunity of hearing the voices of the child victims themselves. During my discussions with children who had returned to Ukraine after having been stolen by the Russian Federation, they told me that being able to tell their horrific ordeals was very important to their recovery. I cannot overstate the significance of the Register creating a claims category to document the heinous crime of unlawful deportation, a crime which has caused immeasurable suffering, ripping families apart and stealing childhoods forever.

Documenting the severe harm caused is an important step towards future compensation.

Of course, in this healing process, trauma-informed care will be crucial. I believe that ultimately accountability and trauma-informed care are vital pre-conditions to any sustainable reconstruction of Ukraine.

Trauma-informed support is essential in itself, both so as to be able to address the deep emotional scars left on these children and to avoid their re-traumatisation.

But it is also intrinsically linked to an effective accountability process, so as to ensure the accuracy of children’s testimonies during criminal investigations and for a subsequent trial.

As this war of aggression tragically drags into its fourth year, it is more apparent than ever that Ukraine’s reconstruction efforts and any hope for sustainable peace can only be achieved if there is effective accountability, and effective accountability, in turn, must be based on a trauma-informed approach.

Ladies and gentlemen.

It is not enough to rebuild roads, bridges and energy infrastructure. To rebuild a nation after a war, one must reconstruct the true worth of a nation, the human beings, the children, our future, and the future of Ukraine.

And if we are honestly and actively seeking ways to help, this is an opportunity to do so.

Not only can we help. We must.

As Special Envoy on the Situation of children of Ukraine, I will support, however I can and with all my might, efforts to enhance the protections of Ukrainian children, including those of the Register to record the severe damage caused to them by their unlawful deportation or transfer.

Ultimately, the bottom line is quite simple: there will not be justice unless the plight of the Ukrainian people, including those most vulnerable, the children, is effectively addressed. And without the prospect of justice, any promise of rebuilding Ukraine will be empty.

Time is not a luxury that Ukraine or its children can afford, because as these times of injustice and violence continue to flow into the consciousness of children who suffer - the damage becomes harder to repair.

Ladies and gentlemen.

I am grateful for the opportunity to participate in today’s event, and especially to my friend Þorgerður Katrín Gunnarsdóttir, our foreign minister, for taking the time to be with us here today.

This is my first public appearance in Iceland in my role as Special Envoy of the Secretary General of the Council of Europe. And I particularly cherish that this occasion is tied to the Register of Damage, a crucial undertaking that will always be linked with the successful Reykjavík Summit, in which I was involved as then foreign minister. I am pleased to be sharing the Panel with Robert Spano, Chair of the Register’s Board and former President of the European Court of Human Rights.

What is more, it is explicitly in my mandate to cooperate closely with the Register of Damage, and today’s discussion of a new claims category for the forcible transfer or deportation of children, the accountability for which is one of my top priorities, is symbolic.

The Council of Europe and Iceland can make a difference when we concentrate our efforts, and I believe we are doing so when it comes to the situation of the children of Ukraine.

And I believe that since we can make a difference, it becomes our duty to do so.

Time is of the essence.

Thank you.