EU to establish international investigation bureau for war crimes in Ukraine: Official

By Selen Temizer

BRUSSELS (AA) - The EU is working to establish an international investigation bureau for war crimes in Ukraine, the bloc’s justice commissioner said Friday.

Didier Reynders remarks came at a news conference after an informal meeting that brought together EU interior ministers in Stockholm.

Referring to progress made in the prosecution of war crimes committed in Ukraine, he said the legal process has been going on since the beginning of the war.

The EU is working to establish the first layer of the bureau, he said.

Reynders said many actors are cooperating, from the Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine to 14 member states that have filed cases, from the joint investigative teams to the International Criminal Court (ICC) and the EU's criminal justice agency, Eurojust.

He said 65,000 probable war crimes cases have been collected, noting that it is "the highest number of war crimes documented in history."

Reynders added that the commission wants to lead the mission and said discussions on possible mechanisms such as the establishment of an independent international court are continuing.