European partners fear that without US support, they will not be able to finance the launch of the Special Tribunal for the crime of Russian aggression against Ukraine.
Euronews writes about this, citing sources.
According to the publicationʼs sources, less and less money is coming from Washington to support Ukraine, so European partners will have to make choices about which projects to finance.
Also complicating matters is that the US has not yet joined the creation of the Special Tribunal. In May, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Kaia Kallas suggested that America would join the initiative sooner or later.
According to Euronews, the estimated budget for the tribunal project in the Netherlands is around €75 million per year, excluding costs for premises and security. The EU is to provide an annual contribution of €10 million.
The main donors to the Council of Europe are France, Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom. However, it is not known whether they will participate in the regular financing of the tribunal.
According to the newspaperʼs sources, these states are currently not actively involved in the process.
In addition, to launch the Special Tribunal, it is necessary to gather a minimum number of participating countries. Usually their number is 16, although in the case of Ukraine, it is likely that more countries will have to join, Euronews experts note.
According to them, not only the number, but also the influence of the participating countries will be important.
Special Tribunal for the Crime of Aggression of the Russian Federation
Ukraine insists on the creation of a special tribunal, since the International Criminal Court and other similar institutions cannot consider cases of crimes of aggression at this stage.
The heads of foreign ministries of European countries and the EU leadership expressed political support for the launch of the Special Tribunal on May 9.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky and Secretary General of the Council of Europe Alain Berset signed an agreement on its establishment in Strasbourg on June 25. The Statute of the Special Tribunal for the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine is also ready.
Author: Anastasia Zaikova
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