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The President in The Hague: We cannot and will not allow war criminals to escape accountability

President of the Republic of Lithuania

April 17, 2023

As part of his working visit to the Netherlands, President Gitanas Nausėda met in The Hague with the President of the International Criminal Court (ICC), Piotr Hofmański, and the Vice-President of the European Union Agency for Criminal Justice Cooperation (Eurojust), Margarita Šniutytė-Daugėlienė.

The meetings discussed the international investigation of war crimes in Ukraine, the prosecution of war criminals and the establishment of a special tribunal on aggression against Ukraine.

In his meeting with the President of the ICC, Gitanas Nausėda stressed that the International Criminal Court must continue to play a central role in the prosecution of international crimes, however, following Russia's attack on Ukraine, the international community must seek additional means of delivering justice.

"The International Criminal Court is the key institution in the investigation of war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity as well as aggression. We see many examples of such crimes in Ukraine, including brutal killings of prisoners of war and violence against civilians. Behind these crimes are those who took the decision to wage war, to set up filtration camps, and those who sanctioned the systematic murder and torture—namely, the Russian civilian and military leadership. We cannot and will not allow them to escape accountability," the President underlined.

Gitanas Nausėda welcomed the ICC's decision to issue arrest warrants against Vladimir Putin and Maria Lvova-Belova.

"This is an important step in defending international humanitarian principles and demonstrating that accountability for serious violations of international law is inevitable. However, the deportation of children from the occupied territories of Ukraine to Russia is only one of the many war crimes of the Kremlin regime, whose root cause is the crime of aggression," President Gitanas Nausėda spoke.

The Head of State pointed out that Lithuania strongly supported the establishment of a special tribunal on aggression against Ukraine, as the ICC could only investigate crimes of aggression in two cases: if Russia and Ukraine were State Parties to the Rome Statute, or if there was a referral by the United Nations Security Council.

In his conversation with Vice-President of Eurojust Margarita Šniutytė-Daugėlienė, the President thanked her for the active role of the Agency in coordinating international crime investigations and gathering evidence in Ukraine.

"Lithuania supports the decision to establish the International Center for the Prosecution of Crimes of Aggression, to whose establishment Eurojust has made a significant contribution. This is an important and timely step, as evidence of crimes of aggression must be collected without any delay," the President emphasized.

Gitanas Nausėda stressed that the setting up of this center is also the first step towards the establishment of a special tribunal.