EU to hold a conference on the return of Ukrainian children

The European Union plans to organize a conference as part of an initiative dedicated to the return of Ukrainian children abducted by Russia.

This was stated by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen after the EU summit in Brussels.

According to von der Leyen, there are currently 16,200 children who have been deported, of whom only 300 have returned.

"This is a terrible reminder of the darkest times in our history, of what is happening there - the deportation of children. This is a war crime. These criminal acts fully justify the arrest warrants issued by the ICC," she said.

Von der Leyen reminded that in this area, in partnership with Ukrainians, the Prime Minister of Poland and the European Commission have launched an initiative aimed at returning children abducted by Russia.

"We are organizing a conference for this purpose. We are at the very beginning of very difficult work. We want to unite international pressure to take all possible measures to establish the whereabouts of these children. And we want to help the UN bodies and relevant international organizations to obtain more complete information about the children who were deported to Russia. This also applies to children who were later adopted or placed in Russian foster care," she added.

Author - Olena Madiak, 24/03/2023