European human rights summit to step up aid for Ukraine to counter Russian invasion

The 46 Council of Europe members solemnly pledged to “bear witness to unprecedented pan-European unity” during their previous meeting.

On Tuesday, 18 years later, Europe’s leading human rights organization faces a massive war on its own continent, forcing it to gather as many of its leaders as possible in Reykjavik, Iceland, to deal with the epochal crisis in Ukraine, one of its member states.

At the 2005 Warsaw summit, Sergey Lavrov warned that “Russia was, is and will be a major European nation.”

Since the Council banished Russia over its February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, Lavrov and other Russian officials won’t fly to Europe’s remote island nation. The two-day meeting will promote unity and Ukraine’s defense.

Since 1949, the Strasbourg-based Council of Europe has protected human rights, democracy, and the rule of law in Europe, with mixed results. Today’s demand is unprecedented.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy may not make the long trek to the island south of the Arctic Circle due to the situation at home and rumors of a counteroffensive.

Many will speak for him.

“I will very strongly support the creation of a dedicated tribunal to bring Russia’s crime of aggression to trial,” said EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, joining French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, and scores of other leaders. They’ll add to Kyiv’s military and economic backing from numerous European nations.

Leaders will discuss legal concerns during two days of talks, roundtables, and diplomatic networking.

The Council seeks to hold Russia accountable for its many invading crimes. The conference will compile a list of Russian forces’ damage to hold Moscow accountable for victim reparations.

Von der Leyen said it would be an excellent first step toward Russian restitution for Ukraine.

The Council hopes the US, a summit observer, will support that initiative.

Moscow confronts other legal issues. In March, the International Criminal Court issued an arrest order for Russian President Vladimir Putin for war crimes, blaming him for the abductions of Ukrainian children. Another official was indicted.

Since the war, the Russians have been accused of deporting Ukrainian children to Russia or Russian-held territory to raise as their own. Russia has kidnapped thousands of children from schools and orphanages in eastern Ukraine. They’re missing.

The summit hopes to assist find and return those children.

Not that the Council of Europe is unified or without internal conflict.

Last week, Armenia and Azerbaijan exchanged artillery fire along their tense border, killing one soldier and wounding several others. The new escalation between longtime enemies jeopardized peace talks.

Hungary and Serbia remain pro-Russia.

President Aleksandar Vucic said Serbia would send the lowest-level delegation possible if Ukraine’s territorial integrity was so important to the conference, since Kosovo proclaimed independence.

I’ll stay. He called it a sham.