Ukraine pushing for Special Tribunal at PACE spring session

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20.04.2026 07:57

Ukrinform

Ukraine’s delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) will focus on intensifying efforts to establish a Special Tribunal for the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine during the Assembly’s spring plenary session, which begins on April 20 in Strasbourg.

This was stated by Ukrainian MP Yevheniia Kravchuk in a comment to Ukrinform.

“This session will precede a meeting of foreign ministers from 46 member states of the Council of Europe, scheduled for May 15, 2026, in Chișinău, where an Enlarged Partial Agreement on the Management Committee of the Special Tribunal for the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine is expected to be signed. Therefore, our focus will be on debates where we will call for stepping up efforts to establish the Special Tribunal,” Kravchuk said.

According to her, the tribunal issue will also be central in questions addressed to the Council of Europe Secretary General Alain Berset following his address to delegates.

“The signing of this agreement will open the way for ratification and funding of the tribunal. We also aim to involve countries outside the Council of Europe, such as Canada, which has already joined the Register of Damage and could also take part in the tribunal. For the Ukrainian delegation, the key goal is a practical outcome – to finally move forward from the ‘starting point.’ In practical terms, this means establishing a budget for the tribunal so countries can begin making contributions. So far, only the European Union has made a contribution,” she explained.

Among other Ukraine-related events on the session sidelines will be debates on Russia’s hybrid warfare.

“This will be a discussion on how the ‘Russian world’ operates – its ideology and practices of hybrid aggression against Europe. We are preparing it together with Swedish and Polish partners, as well as the Belarusian opposition. I will also speak there,” Kravchuk added.

Other notable events at the session include an address by French Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Jean-Noël Barrot and the annual report of the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights Michael O'Flaherty.

As previously reported, Secretary General of the Council of Europe Alain Berset reacted to the April 18 terrorist attack in Kyiv, which killed six people.