CoE plans agreement on accountability for crimes committed in Ukraine war

The head of parliament’s foreign affairs council welcomed on Monday the Council of Europe’s decision to pass an international agreement aimed at ensuring accountability for crimes committed in the Ukraine war.

Zsolt Németh told MTI by phone on the first working day of the spring sessions at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe that the CoE was compiling a report on the losses caused by Russia’s military aggression.

The agreement, planned to be signed at a summit in Reykjavik in May could prove to be an important achievement, he said.

The CoE‘s Committee of Ministers has asked the General Assembly to present its position on Kosovo’s membership in the CoE, Németh said. This represents a risk for the Reykjavik summit because the Committee of Ministers has come forward with the request at an extremely sensitive time, following a mayoral election in North Kosovo on Sunday, he added.

“There is reason for concern that the Council of Europe decision may result in instability rather than stability. Another reason for concern is that the unity of the council which is necessary for the success of the fourth summit may come under question,”

he said.

Hungary considers it important that the dialogue on settling relations between Serbia and Kosovo should continue and all international players contribute to progress, he said. It is also an important expectation concerning the Council of Europe, he added.

Measures by the international community and the CoE must serve stability for a region riddled by tensions, he said.

As we wrote a two days ago, Viktor Orbán and Aleksandar Vucic have discussed raising military industrial cooperation between Hungary and Serbia to a new level, details HERE.