Europe launches international commission for Ukraine war damages

BRUSSELS

European leaders gathered at The Hague on Tuesday to launch an International Claims Commission to compensate Ukraine for hundreds of billions of dollars in damage from Russian attacks and alleged war crimes.

The one-day conference, co-hosted by the Netherlands and the 46-nation Council of Europe, gathered senior officials, including EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas, and coincided with ongoing US-led diplomatic efforts to end the war in Ukraine.

The commission, set up under the framework of the Council of Europe, will review claims for losses and injuries resulting from the ongoing conflict. It will determine compensation for damages, including property destruction, personal injuries, and crimes such as sexual violence and forced deportations.

Speaking at a signing ceremony, Kallas called the scale of destruction in Ukraine "unimaginable" and highlighted that property damage is only a fraction of the suffering.

"We have formally adopted the Convention establishing the Claims Commission. I'm pleased to announce that the European Union will provide up to 1 million euros to pay for the preparatory work. In the meantime, Ukrainians can keep submitting claims to the register of damages," she said.

"Russia is no less liable for the damage in Ukraine than Iraq was for the damage in Kuwait, but Russia will never voluntarily pay for the damage it has done. We already see the attempts to exclude reparations and, in fact, any form of accountability from the potential peace agreement. And this puts a huge responsibility on the international community," she added.

Kallas also addressed funding challenges, pointing out that between 260 and 280 billion euros of Russian assets are frozen abroad and could form the basis for compensation.

About €210 billion ($246 billion) in Russian assets are frozen in the EU, and the bloc proposes using the funds to support Ukraine. However, most of the frozen Russian assets are held by the Belgian bank Euroclear, and Belgium has repeatedly raised concerns about the plan.

"We are at a point where our Belgian colleagues are under a lot of pressure from different sides. My feeling is, the sooner we do this European solution, the sooner the pressure from Belgium will be actually off, because then it will be a Belgian solution, which means that, if you are not happy with the solution, you can go to court against the European Union," she said during the joint press conference with Council of Europe Secretary-General Alain Berset.