News item | 11-04-2022 | 09:27
At the initiative of Minister Hoekstra of Foreign Affairs, Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan of the International Criminal Court in The Hague took part in a meeting with EU foreign ministers. At the meeting organized by the Netherlands, Khan spoke about the progress of the investigation into war crimes in Ukraine. The meeting took place in Luxembourg prior to the Foreign Affairs Council.
Hoekstra took this initiative in light of the war crimes in Ukraine in view of the important role that the Netherlands attributes to the International Criminal Court in prosecuting those responsible for these crimes. The Netherlands wants justice to follow for the victims of the Russian invasion.
Due to the war in Ukraine, the number of cases at the International Criminal Court is increasing sharply and the current budget will no longer be sufficient in the coming years. During the meeting, Minister Hoekstra emphasized the importance of the work of the International Criminal Court to combat impunity worldwide and called on EU ministers to jointly take the lead to ensure that the ICC has sufficient resources for this. “The deployment of the criminal court is one of the most important tracks towards justice for Ukrainians,” said the minister.
Hoekstra pledged 1 million euros extra to the ICC on behalf of the Netherlands to support it in investigation and prosecution.
The Netherlands is committed to establishing an anti-corruption court
On Monday, Minister Hoekstra also mentioned the root causes of this conflict, such as blatant corruption that forms the economic basis in Russia for an autocratic and repressive system that is now aggressively manifesting itself to the outside world. This poses a threat to prosperity, stability and security across the region.
To combat these forms of large-scale corruption, the Netherlands wants to work with like-minded countries to establish an international anti-corruption court. Corruption by public officials is not only a financial problem, but it also undermines democracy and the rule of law in a country and increases inequality among the population. And it is simply criminal. Not only does the country itself suffer, corruption also harms the interests of other states. By establishing an anti-corruption court, the Netherlands aims to strengthen the international legal order. For that we need the support of many countries’, says Hoekstra.
Establishing an anti-corruption court is a long-term undertaking, and will only be possible with broad support from the international community. The Netherlands will therefore investigate the possible design of the court together with like-minded partners and will make efforts to gather international support. To this end, the Netherlands, together with Canada and Ecuador, are organizing a ministerial conference next autumn on the theme of the international fight against corruption.