The European Union will provide €1 million for the establishment of the International Commission on Ukraine’s Claims for compensation for damages caused by Russia’s military aggression.
This was announced at a diplomatic conference on the adoption of the Convention establishing the International Commission on Ukraine’s Claims in The Hague by EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Kaja Kallas, according to the press service of the EU External Action Service.
“Today, I am proud to announce €1 million from the EU to support the creation of the Claims Commission,” Kallas said.
She emphasized that, since Russia refuses to end the war, the number of compensation claims will continue to grow.
“We are making very important decisions to hold Russia financially accountable for the war damages it has inflicted on Ukraine. The work done by the Council of Europe to establish the Ukraine Claims Commission is vital and can change the situation,” Kallas stated.
The High Representative recalled that in almost four years since the full-scale invasion, over 200,000 buildings in Ukraine have been destroyed or damaged, and about 2.5 million homes and apartments are no longer suitable for living.
“And this is just one category in the registry. The Claims Commission now has the task of determining what losses, in real terms and not abstract numbers, real people have suffered due to these destructions,” Kallas emphasized.
She cited historical examples of similar commissions, including those related to Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait and the property claims commission in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
“Each example contains the same hard lesson: justice is a process that takes time,” Kallas said, acknowledging that Russia will never voluntarily compensate for the damages.
In this context, she called for the broadest possible international support for the process.
“Every day we see that Russia almost exclusively targets civilian objectives. It chooses to strike where it can cause maximum harm to civilians,” Kallas said, stressing that this is a violation of international humanitarian law.
“Russia’s terrorist tactic is the ruthless freezing of cities, destruction of homes, and breaking the will of the people it seeks to destroy. But it has failed, and we must ensure that continues. We do this by increasing pressure on Russia and strengthening Ukraine’s defense,” the EU High Representative said, noting that over the weekend more than a million households in Ukraine were left without electricity due to Russian strikes on energy infrastructure.
Kallas also reminded that yesterday the EU imposed new sanctions on Russian oil traders and shadow fleet vessels, while work continues to establish a legal framework to hold Russia accountable, including for the crime of aggression.
All this work sends a clear signal to potential aggressors: if you start a war, you will be held accountable.
