Georgia did not join the agreement to establish the committee for the Special Tribunal for the crime of aggression against Ukraine — an initiative supported on May 15 at a meeting of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe in Chisinau by 36 countries and separately by the European Union, UNN reports with reference to "News Georgia".
Details
The document became one of the key steps toward the actual creation of an international tribunal intended to specifically address the crime of aggression against Ukraine by the Russian leadership.
Among the institutions that joined the founding agreement are: Australia, Andorra, Austria, Belgium, Great Britain, Germany, Greece, Denmark, Iceland, Spain, Ireland, Italy, Cyprus, Costa Rica, Latvia, Lithuania, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Moldova, Monaco, the Netherlands, Romania, San Marino, Slovenia, Finland, France, Croatia, Montenegro, the Czech Republic, Sweden, Switzerland, Estonia, and Ukraine itself.
"These states have taken a decisive step toward the actual creation of the Special Tribunal and the recognition of responsibility for the aggression against Ukraine. The time for holding Russia accountable for its aggression is fast approaching," stated the Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Alain Berset.
Following the completion of national procedures, the participating countries are to begin forming the tribunal itself: appointing judges and a prosecutor, as well as approving the court's rules of procedure.
The creation of a separate tribunal has been under discussion since last year, as the International Criminal Court in The Hague cannot prosecute Russia's top political and military leadership on charges of aggression: Russia is not a party to the Rome Statute. The new mechanism is intended to consider not individual war crimes, but the very fact of armed aggression against Ukraine.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha stated after the vote that "the Special Tribunal has become a legal reality," and that Russian President Vladimir Putin and other Russian leaders "received their ticket to The Hague today."
Addendum
Explaining Tbilisi's position, Georgian Foreign Minister Maka Bochorishvili stated that participation in the mechanism could create "additional risks" for the country.
"The position of some member states, including EU member states, toward Georgia certainly does not give us the opportunity and luxury to make decisions that would create additional risks and threats for our country and could potentially expose Georgia to increased risks or challenges," Bochorishvili told reporters.
The Minister spoke of the need to review the attitude toward Georgia. According to her, Tbilisi expects a clearer position from individual CoE member countries.
"Clarity is needed – what kind of attitude exists toward Georgia and its position, because we bear a huge responsibility to society, primarily in terms of maintaining security, peace, and stability in the country," the Minister said.
The statement was made against the backdrop of a noticeable intensification of contacts between Kyiv and Tbilisi. On the sidelines of the session, Bochorishvili met with her Ukrainian counterpart Andrii Sybiha for the third time since the beginning of May — despite the fact that in more than four years of full-scale war, there had previously never been high-level contacts between Kyiv and Tbilisi.
According to Sybiha, the ministers discussed cooperation in international organizations and the political situation in the region. Bochorishvili, in turn, spoke about "problems in Georgian-Ukrainian relations," "steps taken by the Ukrainian authorities in recent years," as well as "positions that hinder normalization."
Earlier, addressing the participants of the Committee of Ministers session, Bochorishvili accused some Western partners of double standards, hypocrisy, and a selective approach to democracy and freedom of speech. She stated that the weakening of democratic principles "under the guise of democracy" is no less dangerous than wars, and that accusations of Georgia being "pro-Russian" ignore the fact that 20% of the country's territory remains under Russian occupation.