MEPs urge ICC to issue arrest warrant for Belarus' Lukashenko over child abductions

Members of the European Parliament called on the International Criminal Court to issue an arrest warrant for the Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko after the Foreign Affairs Committee adopted a new report on the EU's relations with Belarus, the website of the European Parliament reports.

The document states that Belarus is responsible for damages caused to Ukraine and crimes committed in Ukraine, particularly due to the regime's role in the illegal movement of children.

The report calls on EU institutions and member states to take all necessary steps at the international level to ensure the prosecution of Belarusian political and military leaders responsible for crimes against humanity and genocide.

It is noted that since the International Criminal Court has already issued warrants for the arrest of Russian dictator Vladimir Putin and Commissioner for Children's Rights in Russia Maria Lvova-Belova, the members of the European Parliament call on the International Criminal Court to consider issuing a similar warrant for the arrest of Lukashenko.

Earlier today, it was reported that since September 2022, about 2,150 Ukrainian children over the age of six have been illegally taken to Belarus, and by fall the number of such children may reach 3,000.

Ukraine has information on almost 20,000 children taken to the Russian Federation.

Dmytro Lubinets, the Verkhovna Rada Commissioner for Human Rights, said that the Russian Federation is fabricating court cases in order not to return abducted Ukrainian children, and called on the UN to intervene.