The French Senate - the upper house of the parliament - called on EU institutions and countries to collect evidence of the forcible removal of Ukrainian children to Russia and to impose sanctions on Russian officials involved in these crimes.
The corresponding call is contained in the resolution adopted by the Senate, reports Euractiv.
The resolution condemns the "deportation of Ukrainian children by the Russian Federation" and the actions of the Russian regime, which "administratively and en masse carries out naturalization, name changes and transfer for adoption of children relocated to its territory."
Senator Andre Gattolen, who initiated the resolution, explained that he came up with this initiative in the summer of 2022 to shed light on Moscow's crimes, which at that time were far from attention.
Since then, on March 17, the International Criminal Court has issued an arrest warrant for the President of Russia and his "Child Rights Commissioner", who organizes these mass transfers of Ukrainian children to Russia.
Gattolen expressed hope that the Senate's position will strengthen a joint initiative announced by the European Commission and Poland in February, which aims to "gather evidence, find children and bring to justice those responsible for these crimes."
He also hopes that sanctions will be extended against those responsible for abducting children. The first wave of sanctions on this issue is already contained in the 10th package of EU sanctions adopted at the end of February.
