Council of Europe assembly urges use of frozen Russian assets for Ukraine compensation

The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) has adopted a resolution calling on member and observer states to take concrete steps in response to Russia's refusal to comply with European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) rulings.

According to PACE, Russia owes more than EUR 3.3 billion in unpaid compensation awarded by the ECHR, yet continues to ignore these legal obligations and refuses to cooperate with the Council of Europe's supervisory mechanisms.

Key points of the resolution

The assembly calls for frozen Russian state assets to be repurposed to compensate Ukraine and Ukrainian victims once the ECHR delivers judgments in inter-state cases. It also urges states to ensure their national legal frameworks allow for domestic enforcement of the court's awards.

PACE further calls on member states and the European Union to impose targeted individual sanctions on specific people responsible for the most serious human rights violations documented in ECHR rulings.

The assembly additionally urged the preservation of all case files related to complaints against Russia, protection of the personal data of Ukrainian children who were illegally deported, and the provision of full information about these children through an appropriate international mechanism.

Background

Ukraine's delegation to PACE has previously said it would use plenary debates, committee meetings and bilateral meetings to draw attention to large-scale Russian attacks on civilian targets and critical infrastructure, the humanitarian situation in occupied Oleshky, and Ukraine's needs ahead of winter, with particular focus on compensation payments under ECHR rulings.

PACE had previously proposed a mechanism for transferring frozen Russian funds to Ukraine based on European Court of Human Rights decisions.