THE HAGUE, March 24, 2022 (AFP) – The EU judicial agency on Thursday announced it will set up an investigating team to collect evidence of possible war crimes committed in Ukraine.

The announcement comes after a meeting of EU justice ministers to discuss the role of the Eurojust agency, based in The Hague.

The ministers decided to mobilise Eurojust in collecting evidence within the framework of the probe launched by the International Criminal Court (ICC) after Russia’s invasion on February 24.

“Several EU Member States have launched national investigations, and the first joint investigation team focusing on war crimes and crimes against humanity is about to be set up with the support of Eurojust,” said Eurojust president, Ladislav Hamran.

“It is our role to coordinate criminal investigations in the European Union and beyond and make sure that we all act in unison,” Hamran added in a statement.

Eurojust will serve as a bridge between the investigations of EU member states and the independent and impartial investigation of the ICC, he said.

The Hague-based ICC’s chief prosecutor opened an active probe into possible war crimes in Ukraine on March 3 after obtaining the backing of more than 40 states that are party to the court.

“We have every reason to believe that crimes have been committed in Ukraine,” French Justice Minister Eric Dupond-Moretti said.

“We need justice to be served. The first step is the collection of evidence, Eurojust will have a decisive role,” he told AFP

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