On Friday, November 4, the Minister of Justice of Ukraine Denys Malyuska held a meeting with the Federal Minister of Justice of the Federal Republic of Germany Dr. Marco Buschmann. The meeting was also attended by Valeriia Kolomiiets, Deputy Minister of Justice for European Integration, Iryna Mudra, Deputy Minister of Justice, Anka Feldhusen, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Germany to Ukraine, representatives of the Federal Ministry of Justice of the Federal Republic of Germany, the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany in Ukraine and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine.
The participants of the meeting paid the main attention to the development of Ukrainian-German bilateral international legal cooperation, the development of joint decisions in the context of the creation of a special tribunal to investigate war crimes committed by the russian federation on the territory of Ukraine, compensation for damages caused as a result of russian aggression.
“Russia must pay for this war with its assets. We want to receive compensation for all the damages that russian federation has caused to Ukraine. Currently, our goal is to obtain a resolution on the creation of a reparation fund for war-related damages to Ukraine at a special session of the UN General Assembly, which will take place in a few days. Furthermore, in order to impose a penalty for russia including its top military and political leadership, a special tribunal for the crime of aggression against our state should be created".
The issue of providing support to Ukraine in the context of its European integration aspirations was also discussed.
«It is very important for me to be a guest in Kyiv today and personally demonstrate that Germany firmly stands by Ukraine. The courageous fight of the Ukrainian people is the fight of everyone for whom freedom and justice have any significance. That is why it is so important that Ukraine wins.
There are important tasks that Minister Malyuska and I intend to solve together. The first of these tasks is the prosecution of war criminals. Those guilty of these crimes must be held accountable. There should be no safe havens for them anywhere: this is the common belief of the Ukrainian government and the German Federal government. Ukrainian and German authorities cooperate closely in the pursuit of war criminals. Today we discussed how we can expand this cooperation further.
The second important task that we discussed today is the support of Ukraine on its way to EU membership. Ukraine is a part of the European family and belongs to Europe. Especially in view of the prospect of joining the EU, Ukraine should continue its reforms in the sphere of the rule of law. Germany will carry on to support these efforts with all available means. Therefore, the Minister Malyuska and I signed a Work Program - regarding legal cooperation between his and my ministries - for the period until 2024. I am glad that we were able to agree on such a comprehensive Work Program despite the dramatic circumstances» said Federal Minister of Justice of Germany Dr. Marco Buschmann.
As a result of the meeting, the Ministers of Justice of Ukraine and Germany signed the Work Program on Cooperation to the Joint Statement on Legal Cooperation between the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine and the Federal Ministry of Justice of the Federal Republic of Germany until 2024, dated March 13, 2017.
The specified Work Program will provide a new impetus for the development of Ukrainian-German interagency legal cooperation, in particular between the Ministries of Justice of both countries in the following areas:
I want to thank my colleague the Minister Buschmann for today's visit. This is evidence of Germany's support for the Ukrainian people in the fight for their freedom and the desire to punish war criminals in the legal sphere. Thank you for your resolute condemnation of russian aggression against Ukraine and for your willingness to help our country to find a necessary and fair legal instrument with which war criminals will be punished, and Ukraine and, most importantly, its citizens will receive appropriate reparations," summarized Denys Malyuska.