The Committee on Legal Affairs of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) believes that Russian state assets should be redirected to pay Ukraine compensation for the damage caused by Russia's war of aggression.
According to the official website of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, the initiative calls for the use of Russian assets to compensate for human rights violations that the European Court of Human Rights found in two inter-state cases brought by Ukraine.
At the same time, the Court has not yet determined the amount of "just satisfaction" that Russia must pay to Ukraine. PACE said that, given the scale of the damage inflicted on Ukraine, potential payments could reach "billions, tens of billions, or hundreds of billions of euros."
"But given the scale of the damage inflicted on Ukraine, which is 'unprecedented in the history of the Council of Europe', any awards could potentially amount to 'billions, tens of billions, or hundreds of billions of euros," according to a statement published on the official website of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) on Wednesday.
Following the start of Russia's full-scale invasion, approximately EUR 260 billion in assets of its central bank were frozen, of which about EUR 210 billion are held in the EU. Parliamentarians are proposing to establish a special mechanism under the auspices of the Council of Europe to mobilize these funds and subsequently disburse them to Ukraine.
PACE also noted that Russia was expelled from the Council of Europe on March 16, 2022, and six months later ceased to be a party to the European Convention on Human Rights. At the same time, this does not exempt the Russian Federation from complying with the European Court of Human Rights' rulings regarding violations committed prior to the termination of its participation in the Convention.
Separately, PACE proposes creating a public list of individuals involved in large-scale human rights violations for which the Court has held Russia responsible and who have not yet been held accountable. The list is to be shared with member states, the EU, and the ICC for the possible imposition of sanctions or criminal prosecution.
