Ukrainian children in Russia: Parliament to call for unconditional return

Ahead of tomorrow’s vote on the resolution on Ukrainian children being forcibly deported to Russia or living in Russian-occupied territories in Ukraine, MEPs will today debate the text at the plenary session in Brussels.

Parliament is expected to call for the immediate and unconditional return of all Ukrainian children forcibly deported or transferred by Russia, without using them as bargaining chips in peace negotiations.

The resolution also includes demands for independent humanitarian access, tougher sanctions against those responsible and stronger EU support for tracing missing children, family reunification and psychological care.

MEP Villy Søvndal, Greens/EFA negotiator for the resolution, comments:

"There are few crimes more cruel than taking a child away from its family. Yet, Russia has turned the abduction of Ukrainian children into part of its war. These children are not spoils of war. They have names, families and homes they deserve to return to. Russia must be held accountable.

“Russia’s war of aggression violates every principle of international law and basic human decency. But abducting children, tearing them away from their families and trying to erase their Ukrainian identity, is a cruelty beyond words. No political ambition, no military objective and no ideology can ever justify stealing a child’s future.”

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The Greens/EFA Group advocates that tomorrow's adopted text will also include concerns about the US sanctions against the ICC and calls for the activation of the Blocking Statute, in order to protect the ICC and the work on its arrest warrants against Vladimir Putin and Maria Lvova-Belova for their responsibility for the war crime of unlawful deportation and transfer of Ukrainian children.