EU allocates €1 million to launch International Compensation Commission for Ukraine
The European Union will provide 1 million euros to support the creation of the International Commission on Ukraine's Claims. This was stated by EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas during a diplomatic conference in The Hague dedicated to the adoption of the relevant convention.
According to Kallas, the Commission's goal is to determine what exactly Russia should compensate for the destroyed houses, schools and hospitals. Ukrainians have already filed more than 86,000 claims for compensation, each one reflecting a broken life and a stopped future.
In almost four years of full-scale war in Ukraine, more than 200,000 buildings have been damaged or destroyed, and 2.5 million homes have become uninhabitable. And this is just one of the categories of the damage register. The Commission should assess losses not in the abstract, but in the concrete losses of real people.
Kallas stressed that justice takes time and Russia will not compensate voluntarily, so the widest international support and constant pressure is needed. She also drew attention to Russia's systematic attacks on civilian infrastructure. Last weekend alone, more than 1 million households were left without electricity due to attacks on the energy sector, which is a violation of international humanitarian law.
The EU diplomat recalled new sanctions against Russian oil traders and shadow fleet vessels and parallel work on the legal framework for accountability for the crime of aggression. According to her, the message is clear: whoever starts a war will be held accountable.
The Commission will work in the Netherlands within the Council of Europe and will be the next stage after the Register of Damages for Ukraine, which has already been joined by 44 states and the EU.
