European Parliament passes resolution on establishment of tribunal on Ukraine

The European Parliament has called for establishing a tribunal on the developments in Ukraine in a resolution that was passed at a parliament session in Strasbourg on Thursday.

The document calls for "the establishment of a tribunal on the crime of aggression against Ukraine." As many as 472 lawmakers voted in favor of the resolution, 19 voted against it and 33 abstained.

"MEPs urge the EU, in close cooperation with Ukraine and the international community, to push for the creation of a special international tribunal to prosecute Russia’s political and military leadership and its allies," the European Parliament said in a statement following the vote.

The resolution says that the tribunal should also have jurisdiction to investigate the Belarusian leadership.

European Parliament members invited the EU and its member states, "as well as their partners and allies, to engage in discussion on the legal possibility of using sovereign assets of the Russian state as reparations for the violations of international law by Russia in Ukraine, including potentially by denying such assets the protections of sovereign immunity or limiting such protections."

In addition, the European Parliament underlined "the importance of Ukraine ratifying the Rome Statute of the ICC [International Criminal Court] and its amendments and formally becoming a member of the ICC."

The European Parliament’s resolutions aren’t legally binding and are recommendatory but the European Union widely uses them in the media and political fields to advance and promote specific positions.