To facilitate cooperation in prosecuting war crimes in Ukraine, Slovenian Foreign Minister Tanja Fajon presented an initiative for an international treaty at the EU Foreign Affairs Council Monday she says 77 countries have already signed up for it.

To debate what Fajon says would be the first major international treaty to set up a cooperation mechanism among law enforcement bodies of EU countries and non-EU countries, a diplomatic conference is to be held in Ljubljana in May.

“I have called on the ministers to attend the conference with their teams of criminal law experts,” she said.

The treaty would make it possible to cooperate in the prosecution and investigation of crimes against humanity, war crimes, other international crimes, and genocide.

Slovenia has drawn up the treaty in cooperation with Belgium, the Netherlands and three non-EU countries.

While 77 countries have so far joined the initiative, Fajon said the three EU countries were working on attracting other countries as well.

More details and the signing date would be known after the conference, Tajon added.

“This shows that Slovenia leads a really clear policy of investigating accountability, including when it comes to war crimes in Ukraine,” Fajon said.

(Sebastijan R. Maček | sta.si)