REYKJAVIK: A year after kicking Russia out of the Council of Europe over its war in Ukraine, the leaders of the 46-nation pan-continental rights body gathered on Tuesday in Iceland to take an initial step towards a future prosecution of Russian leaders.
The Council of Europe's mission is to promote human rights, democracy and rule of law in its member states, which include all 27 European Union nations plus Britain, Turkey, Western Balkan countries, Georgia and Armenia.Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said as he arrived to represent his country that the creation of a registry of damages was"the first real step on our path to find solutions" to make Russia"compensate all these atrocities and damages".
The United States - represented at the summit in an observer role - said it too supported creation of such a register, as did Britain and other countries. Emmanuel Macron of France, Rishi Sunak of Britain and Olaf Scholz of Germany are among the heads of state and government set to attend.Britain, for instance, is antagonistic towards the CoE's European Convention of Human Rights, which is a barrier to its plans to stem the irregular arrival of asylum-seekers by deporting them to Rwanda or returning them to transit European countries.