The Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe today confirmed its unwavering commitment to Ukraine on its path to justice and reconstruction by launching the process to establish a special tribunal for the crime of aggression. Following on from the Reykjavik Summit, the foreign affairs ministers of the 46 member states also set the Organisation’s future policy directions and adopted a new treaty on protection of the environment.
At their annual meeting, ministers tasked Secretary General Alain Berset with leading the process to set up a special tribunal for the crime of aggression within the Council of Europe, through an agreement with Ukraine.
Ministers welcomed the ongoing efforts to reach an agreement on the establishment of a Claims Commission for Ukraine, possibly under the auspices of the Council of Europe, and reaffirmed their determination to secure the return of Ukrainian children unlawfully deported or forcibly transferred by Russia.
They also emphasised the importance of stepping up support for Ukraine, in particular through the Action Plan “Resilience, recovery and reconstruction 2023-2026” which allows the Ukrainian authorities to move further down the path towards accession to the European Union.
On the basis of a report on follow-up to the Reykjavik Declaration and the annual report by the Secretary General entitled “Towards a new Democratic Pact for Europe”, ministers discussed the work done since the 4th Summit of Heads of State and Government (May 2023) and agreed future policy directions in areas such as the rule of law, social rights, the rights of the child, digital rights and artificial intelligence, protection of journalists, equality, youth participation and civil society.
At the same time, the Committee of Ministers welcomed the Secretary General’s road map “Towards a new Democratic Pact for Europe”.
With regard to the environment, ministers adopted the Convention on the Protection of the Environment through Criminal Law together with a strategy for the environment.
Lastly, 17 countries signed the Convention for the Protection of the Profession of Lawyer, which was opened for signature during the ministerial session.
