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Summary for: Czechia to back special tribunal to prosecute Russia for war crimesCzechia has officially joined a core group of 23 nations supporting the establishment of a special tribunal to prosecute the crime of aggression against Ukraine.
The move, announced by Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha on Tuesday, signals Prague’s commitment to holding Russian leadership accountable for the ongoing invasion.
The agreement serves as a legal foundation for a court modeled after the Nuremberg trials. Unlike the International Criminal Court (ICC), which handles specific war crimes and crimes against humanity, this special tribunal would focus specifically on the "crime of aggression"; the initial act of launching the war itself.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Sybiha expressed his gratitude to Prague on the social media platform X, emphasizing that the Czech Republic’s involvement is a critical step toward international accountability. "Those who unleashed war on our country must know that justice is inevitable," Sybiha stated.
Grateful to the Czech Republic for notifying @coe of its willingness to join the Enlarged Partial Agreement required to launch the Special Tribunal.
— Andrii Sybiha 🇺🇦 (@andrii_sybiha) April 28, 2026
Czechia becomes the 23rd state to join this historic effort and we hope to see more responsible states to follow suit.
On May…
At least 16 countries were required to initiate the formal process; Czechia’s notification helped push the group past that threshold, according to Czech Foreign Minister Petr Macinka.
The Czech Republic’s participation is essential to closing a "legal gap" that currently prevents the ICC from prosecuting Russian top-tier leadership for the act of invading a sovereign state.
President Petr Pavel, speaking from a summit in Croatia, noted that Czechia had already signaled its intent to support such a body during the Council of Europe meeting in Reykjavik last year. According to Pavel, the tribunal is the only way to ensure that the planners of the invasion do not go unpunished.
The process is moving quickly within European institutions. The agreement is scheduled for a formal vote at the Council of Europe Committee of Ministers in Chisinau, Moldova, on May 14–15.
The European Union has already allocated an initial EUR 10 million to fund the tribunal’s preparatory phases. Early estimates suggest that the court could eventually bring at least 20 high-ranking Russian officials to justice.
According to Kyiv and Western allies, Russian soldiers have committed numerous crimes against humanity during the conflict. By backing the tribunal, the Czech government aims to fill the jurisdictional gap that currently prevents the ICC from prosecuting the leadership in Moscow for the initial military invasion.
