Europe Announces Launch of War Damage Commission for Ukraine
The Netherlands and the Council of Europe jointly convened the single-day summit, drawing high-ranking officials including EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas. The gathering occurred as US-led negotiations continue seeking a resolution to the conflict.
Operating within the Council of Europe's institutional structure, the commission will assess damage claims stemming from the war. Its mandate covers compensation determinations for destroyed infrastructure, bodily harm, and atrocities including sexual assault and forced population transfers.
During the formal signing event, Kallas described Ukraine's destruction scale as "unimaginable" and emphasized that physical property losses represent merely a portion of total harm inflicted.
"We have formally adopted the Convention establishing the Claims Commission. I'm pleased to announce that the European Union will provide up to 1 million euros to pay for the preparatory work. In the meantime, Ukrainians can keep submitting claims to the register of damages," she said.
"Russia is no less liable for the damage in Ukraine than Iraq was for the damage in Kuwait, but Russia will never voluntarily pay for the damage it has done. We already see the attempts to exclude reparations and, in fact, any form of accountability from the potential peace agreement. And this puts a huge responsibility on the international community," she added.
Kallas also tackled financing obstacles, noting that frozen Russian financial holdings abroad—ranging between 260 and 280 billion euros—could serve as the compensation foundation.
Approximately €210 billion ($246 billion) in Russian financial assets remain immobilized within EU jurisdictions, with the bloc advocating their deployment for Ukrainian support. The bulk of these frozen holdings reside with Belgian bank Euroclear, though Belgium has consistently expressed reservations regarding the proposal.
"We are at a point where our Belgian colleagues are under a lot of pressure from different sides. My feeling is, the sooner we do this European solution, the sooner the pressure from Belgium will be actually off, because then it will be a Belgian solution, which means that, if you are not happy with the solution, you can go to court against the European Union," she said during the joint press conference with Council of Europe Secretary-General Alain Berset.
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