34 European countries plus Australia, Costa Rica sign up to special tribunal plan to prosecute Russia for Ukraine invasion

Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha (left in picture) attended Friday's meeting in Chisinau, Moldova — Image: Elena Covalenco/AP Photo/picture alliance

Thirty-four European countries, plus Australia, Costa Rica, and the European Union as an entity, signed up on Friday to a future special tribunal that will seek to prosecute Russia for crimes committed during its invasion of Ukraine.

The plan has been in development since soon after Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022. Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed an agreement with the Council of Europe last year seeking to implement it.

What Was Agreed on Friday?

Most of the 46 member states of the Council of Europe — a France-based body focused on safeguarding human rights and democracy, with a larger membership than the EU — approved a resolution laying the groundwork for the future tribunal, the Council said in a statement. Ukraine is a member state.

"The time for Russia to be held to account for its aggression is fast approaching," said the organization's Secretary General Alain Berset. "The special tribunal represents justice and hope. Action now needs to be taken to follow up on this political commitment by securing the tribunal's functioning and funding."

"Today, we are taking responsibility to ensure that aggression does not go unanswered," Berset added, inviting other countries to join the initiative.

Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha, among the participants on Friday, called the event "a historic day."

"Just like the Nuremberg tribunal 80 years ago, this Special Tribunal in the Hague will restore justice from the ruins of war," Sybiha said, referencing the trials of surviving senior Nazis after World War II.

"We are creating an infrastructure of accountability with three pillars: the Special Tribunal, the Register of Damages and the Claims Commission. Let me also emphasize that accountability will never be up for compromise."

The Netherlands' Foreign Minister Tom Berendsen said his country had agreed to "host the initial phase" of the special tribunal in The Hague, home to several other international legal institutions, most notably the International Criminal Court.

"The road to justice for Ukraine is long and far from easy, but this does not stop us from doing everything in our power to help achieve this," Berendsen said.

How Does This Plan Differ from the International Criminal Court?

Critics have questioned how such a tribunal will be able to prosecute alleged Russian war criminals or the state itself, given how unlikely it appears that President Vladimir Putin's regime would cooperate or agree to its sanctions.

Russia was once a Council of Europe member but was expelled in response to its invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague has already issued arrest warrants against Russian President Vladimir Putin and other senior officials, often tied to specific alleged crimes such as child abduction or deliberately targeting civilians. Russia is not a ratified member of this tribunal either, and generally does not extradite its citizens for trial in other countries.

However, the Council of Europe's tribunal is designed to prosecute issues that the ICC deems beyond its jurisdiction, such as the more fundamental decision to launch the invasion of Ukraine or questions like reparations.

Which Countries Have Not Signed Up?

Twelve member states have not yet signed up, including:

• EU members: Hungary, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Malta
• Balkan countries: Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia, Albania
• Other: Armenia, Azerbaijan, NATO member Turkey

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