European Commission speaks about difficult discussions on special tribunal format

The coalition that supports the creation of a special tribunal for Russia for the crime of aggression has not yet reached an agreement on its format and is trying to take into account the position of Ukraine.

Source: Didier Reynders, European Commissioner for Justice, during a conversation with journalists in Lviv on the sidelines of the United for Justice conference, the correspondent of European Pravda reports.

Reynders noted that the group of 29 countries discussing the format of the future tribunal has a clear obligation to bring to justice the perpetrators of the crime of aggression. 

"But what is the solution, that is being discussed. At the moment, there is no general agreement on what the exact solution will be. Whether it's a special or hybrid tribunal, or another decision, there are a lot of opportunities on the table," Reynders said.

He made it clear that the discussion of the so-called "hybrid tribunal" has not been removed from the agenda, despite Ukraine's protests. 

"Of course, we are trying to take into account Ukraine's request as much as possible," Reynders said, adding that "there are many legal issues and it is not so easy". 

"There are political discussions among some member states about what is best to do, but there are a lot of legal problems," the European commissioner said.

He expressed hope that the UN General Assembly will adopt a resolution in support of the tribunal "to demonstrate the political will" to create it.

"If there is political will, it will be easy to resolve legal issues after that," Reynders said.

Dmytro Kuleba, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, said earlier on the sidelines of the conference that the second meeting of the coalition will be held on 21-22 March in Strasbourg.

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