Overview
- Ukraine’s foreign minister said Portugal is ready to join the tribunal effort, bringing public commitments to 15 and leaving one more needed for the Council of Europe’s legal threshold to hold a May vote in Chisinau.
- The Kyiv Independent reports at least 17 European countries are prepared to sign the legal instrument, called an Enlarged Partial Agreement, which would clear the bar to move the plan forward.
- The Netherlands, which has offered to host the tribunal, is scouting sites with the Council of Europe and negotiating an interim host-state agreement for the initial phase.
- The European Commission proposed a larger EU role after providing €10 million in January, with EU working parties debating the plan this week and a ministerial decision expected later in April if they advance it.
- The tribunal targets the crime of aggression—which the ICC cannot fully prosecute for a leader’s decision to invade—and non-European states can join, with Costa Rica the only one publicly on board so far.