The European Parliament recognized Lukashenko as an accomplice in the removal of children from the occupied territories of Ukraine and called on the ICC to issue a warrant for his arrest

The European Parliament recognized Lukashenko as an accomplice in the removal of children from the occupied territories of Ukraine and called on the International Criminal Court to issue a warrant for his arrest. The text of the full resolution, which voted deputies for today, is available here.

The organization condemned the illegal removal of more than 2,150 children, including orphans, from Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine to so-called health camps in Belarus, where they are subjected to Russification and indoctrination:

“The European Parliament considers Lukashenko as responsible for these war crimes as Vladimir Putin and Maria Lvova-Belova, and therefore calls on the ICC to consider issuing a similar international arrest warrant for Lukashenko,” the document says.

The European Parliament also strongly “condemned the involvement of the Lukashenko regime in the Russian war against Ukraine, as well as the propaganda of incitement to hatred, disinformation and propaganda that echo Moscow’s bellicose rhetoric; condemned the regime’s massive supply of ammunition and military equipment to the Russian aggressors, in particular the production of spare parts for the Russian army, as well as the deployment of Russian troops in Belarus.”

EU deputies also noted that by allowing Russia's unjustified aggressive war against Ukraine, the Lukashenko regime became an accomplice to the crimes committed by Russia, which imposes responsibility for the destruction and damage caused to Ukraine.

In their resolution, they added that a special international tribunal “must have jurisdiction to investigate the crimes not only of Putin and the Russian political and military leadership, but also of the Belarusian leadership.”

In March 2023, the International Criminal Court in The Hague (ICC) issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin and Children's Rights Commissioner Maria Lvova-Belova. They are suspected of illegal deportation and illegal transfer of children from the occupied regions of Ukraine to the Russian Federation. At the end of July, Lvova-Belova spoke about the deportation of over 700 thousand Ukrainian children.