Von der Leyen offers police and judicial help to Zelensky to investigate the Bucha massacre

Ursula Von der Leyen, President of the European Commission – Dario Pignatelli/European Council / DPA

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BRUSSELS, 4 (EUROPE PRESS)

The President of the European Commission, Ursula Von der Leyen, has conveyed to the President of Ukraine, Volodimir Zelenski, her condemnation of the “horrible murders” discovered in Bucha this weekend and has offered the EU’s police and judicial collaboration mechanisms –Europol and Eurojust– to investigate what happened.

“The heartbreaking images cannot and will not remain unanswered,” said Von der Leyen, at the end of a conversation in which he spoke with Zelensky about the alleged barbarities perpetrated by Russian troops in areas near kyiv.

Under the premise of establishing “close coordination”, Von der Leyen has stressed that “those responsible for these heinous crimes must not go unpunished”. For this reason, the EU has already established an investigation team to collaborate with Ukraine in collecting evidence of possible war crimes and crimes against humanity.

The head of the Community Executive has advocated reinforcing these investigations by sending teams to the field. Thus, “Eurojust and Europol are ready to help” the Ukrainian investigation services that are now trying to collect evidence for a potential response.

The European Commissioner for Justice, Didier Reynders, will contact the Ukrainian Prosecutor’s Office and the Commission undertakes to provide all the technical and financial support necessary to continue with these investigations.

Community sources have clarified that, after Reynders has spoken with the Ukrainian authorities and with the EU Member States, it will be when the next steps are known, since for now the Brussels announcement is limited to a general framework on which start to work.

“It requires a political agreement on the Ukrainian side before advancing in its application,” the sources consulted by Europa Press have declared.

In addition, according to the European Commission statement, Eurojust maintains contacts with the International Criminal Court (ICC) to expand collaboration and work in the common interest, in such a way that the data is analyzed and processed “in the most complete and effective as possible”.