On 5 December, in Kyiv, Olha Stefanishyna, Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration and Minister of Justice of Ukraine, met with Alain Berset, Secretary General of the Council of Europe. The parties discussed key aspects of cooperation between Ukraine and the Council of Europe in the context of a full-scale war.

The meeting was also attended by: Maciej Janczak, Head of the Council of Europe Office in Ukraine, Oleksandr Banchuk, Deputy Minister of Justice of Ukraine, Margarita Sokorenko, Commissioner for the European Court of Human Rights, Kateryna Levchenko, Government Commissioner for Gender Policy of Ukraine, and others.

Olha Stefanishyna congratulated Alain Berset on taking up the post and thanked him for his consistent support of Ukraine. In response, the Secretary General reaffirmed the Council of Europe’s high level of commitment to supporting Ukraine, stressing the importance of ensuring the sustainability of joint work with the Government of Ukraine.

The parties discussed the progress of the International Register of Damage as part of the international compensation mechanism. Olha Stefanishyna emphasised that Ukraine was looking forward to the establishment of the Claims Commission and the Compensation Fund as its next elements.

“The International Register of Damage is not just an accounting tool. We see it as the main source and a reliable database of damages to bring russia to justice,” said Olha Stefanishyna.

The Secretary General assured that the Council of Europe would ensure the continuation of the work of the International Register of Damage. According to him, active work is underway to establish a Commission to review applications. The Deputy Prime Minister stressed the importance of replenishing the future compensation fund with confiscated assets of the Russian Federation and of the Council of Europe's leadership in this matter.

Participants also stressed the importance of Ukraine’s involvement in the future Commission’s bodies and the coverage of as many states as possible in support of the International Register of Damage.

The issue of returning Ukrainian children illegally deported by russia was also discussed. According to Olha Stefanishyna, the Ministry of Justice is creating a register of deported children and noted the importance of the Council of Europe joining the International Coalition for the Return of Ukrainian Children. She stressed that the register of deported children will become a reliable source of data on each child, regardless of the length of their stay in russia. She also informed the Council of Europe representatives about the recently adopted legislation that defines the status of a deported child.

“It means that at any time within 10, 20 or 30 years after the war, a person will have this status. They will be in the database, even if they have been on the territory of the russian federation all these years. Speaking about justice and the post-war order, it is very important that we have data from the register of deported children that will confirm that a person has the status of a forcibly deported person, not a collaborator or someone else,” stressed Olha Stefanishyna.

Alain Berset, for his part, mentioned the plans to appoint a Special Representative for Ukrainian children.

Other topics of discussion included practical expert support for Ukraine from the Council of Europe, in particular in the context of Ukraine’s movement towards the EU in the areas of human rights protection, rule of law and development of democratic institutions, as well as mechanisms to support victims of sexual violence during the russian aggression against Ukraine.