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Council of Europe launches new International Claims Commission for Ukraine
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Council of Europe launches new International Claims Commission for Ukraine

17 December 2025
Thirty-four countries and the European Union have signed a new convention establishing an International Claims Commission for Ukraine at a diplomatic conference co-hosted by the 46-nation Council of Europe and the Netherlands in the Hague. The diplomatic conference was attended by leaders and high-level representatives from over 50 states, including the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the President of the Republic of Moldova, Maia Sandu, and the Prime Minister of the Netherlands, Dick Schoof.  “Today marks a major step forward in ensuring accountability for Ukraine. The International Claims Commission represents justice and hope for tens of thousands of victims—our determination that those who have suffered will not be forgotten. I call for quick ratifications so we can get the commission rapidly up and running for the people of Ukraine,” said Council of Europe Secretary General Alain Berset. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said: “We expect that every mechanism for compensation from the Register of Damage and Claims Commission to the actual payments – will start working and receive strong and sufficient international support, so that people can truly feel that any kind of damage caused by the war can be compensated. This war, and Russia’s responsibility for it, MUST become a clear example – so that others learn not to choose aggression.” “Accountability is about creating the conditions for peace that endures. And therefore, accountability is a condition of security – today and for the future. But accountability is not only about Ukraine. And it is not only about one aggressor and one victim. Accountability is about Europe. About every country in Europe. It is about whether Europe, as a whole, is willing to defend its peace,” said Maia Sandu, President of the Republic of Moldova, which currently holds the Presidency of the Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers. The Prime Minister of the Netherlands, Dick Schoof, said: “Every day Russia is deliberately bombarding homes, destroying businesses and damaging infrastructure in Ukraine. Russia must compensate Ukraine for the damage caused. That is why we have launched the International Claims Commission for Ukraine and we are honoured to host it.” The International Claims Commission will be the second part of a comprehensive compensation mechanism related to Russia’s war of aggression, building on the existing Register of Damage for Ukraine. The claims commission will be established within the framework of the Council of Europe and will also be open to other countries. The Register of Damage for Ukraine, created in 2023, collects and records compensation claims submitted by individuals, organisations and public bodies in Ukraine. Forty-four states and the European Union have so far joined the Register, which has already received 86,000 claims. The International Claims Commission will review, assess and decide upon claims submitted to the Register of Damage for Ukraine and determine the amount of compensation, if any, which is due in each case. The convention establishing the commission will enter into force once it has been ratified by 25 signatories, as long as sufficient funds have been secured to support its initial work.

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The Hague to host three meetings on the South Caucasus this week
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The Hague to host three meetings on the South Caucasus this week

3 July 2023
This week in the city of the Hague, the foundation LINKS Europe will host three important meetings related to the South Caucasus region. The city will welcome participants from Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia and beyond, many of who are involved in the delicate process of building trust and confidence between people after years of warfare and animosity in the South Caucasus Region. A spokesperson for LINKS Europe said that the three meetings are,in their different ways, all symbolic and significant, and are being held at a critical juncture for the future of the South Caucasus region, and its relations with Europe.  LINKS Europe has a long history of engagement with the region, and has for many years been particularly active in promoting peace, dialogue and reconciliation. "We are looking forward to three days of intensive meetings, discussions and debates, and we hope the outcome of the meetings will contribute to the wider ongoing process for  peace and reconciliation in the region, and for stronger relations between the region and the rest of Europe", the spokesperson said.
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Editorial: the next few weeks will define the South Caucasus for a decade
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Editorial: the next few weeks will define the South Caucasus for a decade

29 June 2023
In the chancelleries of Europe diplomats are preparing to go on their annual summer holidays. There are a number of files they would like to neatly close before they do so. The South Caucasus is one of them, writes commonspace.eu in this editorial. "Hard luck. There is no chance that any of the major issues facing the region can be brought to a conclusion yet, and it promises to be a long summer full of surprises. But on a number of issues an end game is approaching. The region is in one of those defining moments which everyone agrees will have a deep and long term impact on the future. People are hoping for the best, but worried about the worst. First, there is Georgia. By October, it should be clear if the country will get candidate status for EU membership, a hugely symbolic step that would make the possibility of Georgia becoming an EU member state within a decade a reality for the first time [...] Then there is the business of war or peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan. Both sides appear not convinced its going to be either one or the other. The foreign ministers of the two countries are meeting in Washington this week under the watchful eye of Antony Blinken. They may register progress, but it is unlikely to be enough."
commonspace.eu editorial team
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Commentary: EU reaches out to Central Asia’s “Cinderella”
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Commentary: EU reaches out to Central Asia’s “Cinderella”

28 June 2023
"Whilst this week’s EU-Tajikistan meeting can be dismissed as another piece of EU bureaucracy at play, for Tajikistan this mechanism is also a lifeline to the wider world," writes commonspace.eu in this commentary. "Tajikistan has a lot of potential, in terms of natural resources, tourism and connectivity which remains untapped. It has in the last couple of years made various overtures to the EU indicating a willingness to engage more. It is right that this week the EU has sent a message that it is interested too." Following an EU-Tajikistan meeting on Monday (26 June), a statement said that “the participants reviewed their cooperation, including economic and trade relations, issues related to the security of energy supply, and connectivity both within Central Asia and between Central Asia and Europe. The two sides assessed progress in implementing the outcomes of both the EU-Central Asia Sustainable Connectivity Conference, and the EU-Central Asia Economic Forum [...] During their discussions, the two sides also touched on matters of regional and international interest, including the situation in Afghanistan and Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine. The EU encouraged Tajikistan’s engagement with Central Asia’s neighbouring countries and welcomed its constructive role for broader cooperation within the Central Asia region and beyond.”
commonspace.eu editorial team
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UAE and Qatar become the latest Gulf countries to resume ties in regional rapprochement
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UAE and Qatar become the latest Gulf countries to resume ties in regional rapprochement

19 June 2023
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Qatar have become the latest Gulf countries to resume diplomatic ties in a string of diplomatic rapprochements in the region. Qatar's Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced the decision in a tweet on Monday (19 June), adding that embassies and consulates would reopen and resume work on the same day. The restoration of ties "represents the will of both countries’ leaders to strengthen joint Arab collaboration and achieve the aspirations of both peoples," the ministry said in a statement. The UAE’s Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al-Nahyan and his Qatari counterpart Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani, who is also the Prime Minister, exchanged congratulations on the return of embassies, with both officials hailing the restoration of ties as heralding a “new stage of cooperation and partnership” that confirms the deeply rooted relations that bind both countries, according to a statement on Emirates News Agency (WAM). The current regional trend was in large part set in train by the announcement on 10 March that Saudi Arabia and Iran would restore diplomatic ties that had been broken since 2016.
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