The European Union is working hard to assist Ukraine in investigating war crimes committed by russian aggressors in Ukraine to ensure that those responsible are brought to justice. This was stated on Wednesday in Brussels by a representative of the European Commission, Christian Wiegand, reports “Interfax-Ukraine”.
“Yesterday, European Commissioner Didier Reynders sent a letter to EU justice ministers with proposals for further coordination at the political level. Gathering evidence and supporting the investigation of war crimes is another area where the Commission, together with member states and partners, can take the necessary action,” - he said.
According to Wiegand, in a letter, the European Commissioner asked the ministers to help satisfy the list of requests received from the Prosecutor General of Ukraine.
“This includes, for example, documents needed to investigate war crimes, experts with forensic expertise, equipment for the safe storage of evidence, secure lines of communication and training for investigators. We also call on member states to help with this request and to continue to coordinate these efforts,” said the European Commission representative.
Wiegand also announced work on amending the legislation that governs the EU agency dealing with judicial cooperation in criminal cases between authorities of Eurojust member states to provide “legislative options for the collection and preservation of evidence of war crimes, in particular audio and video recordings.”
“While Eurojust has practical experience in the field of international crimes, the current legislation does not provide for a situation of this scale and crime of this magnitude. That is why we want to make this proposal in the coming days,” he added.
In addition, a representative of the European Commission recalled that the EU has already established a common investigation team with Ukraine to collect evidence and investigate war crimes, which will also cooperate with the International Criminal Court. “This team, supported by Eurojust, will be a hub for the rapid exchange of information between prosecutors. The work is ongoing and we are supporting Ukraine by providing experts and equipment,” Wiegand said.
He also stated that the Commission supports all of these efforts financially by funding equipment, experts, and training for local authorities to investigate war crimes.
“The EU is also launching a EUR 7.5 million fund to support the investigation, collecting information about the missing people,” the European Commission representative added.
“There will be no impunity for those responsible for atrocities and war crimes in Ukraine - they will be held accountable,” Wiegand is convinced.
On 11 April, gendarmes from France arrived in Lviv to assist in the investigation of russian war crimes near Kyiv. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy also called on Estonian specialists to join the investigation of russian crimes.