Speech by minister of Justice and Security David van Weel - Ministerial Dialogue Group Ukraine, 7th May 2025

Speech | 07-05-2025

Mr Khomenko, [Oleksiy,] thank you for organising this important conference.

Ladies and gentlemen, on the 19th of November 2024, one thousand days into the war, President Zelenskyy spoke of his pride in the people of Ukraine. He said:

‘They did not break. They did not surrender. They did not lose their statehood.’

In the 10 years since 2014 the Ukrainians have shown admirable fighting spirit. If there is one word that sums up how they have been able to stand firm all these years, it is ‘unity’.

And according to President Zelenskyy, unity is ‘first and foremost, about people.’

Yes, Ukraine is a country at war. But there is still room for love, comradeship and neighbourliness. Perhaps now more than ever.

The stories we hear are uplifting. They are an inspiration to us all. Take the story of Tatjana, a member of the Hospitallers, a volunteer medical battalion. She was among some 4,000 residents of Mariupol who sought refuge for months in the bunkers beneath the Azovstal steelworks.

One day her fellow Hospitallers put on their bullet-proof vests. They would be back soon, they said. Tatjana was worried. She waited anxiously for several hours. Then, finally, her colleagues returned … with a large bunch of tulips.

Only then did it dawn on Tatjana: it was her fiftieth birthday. It was to be one of the best days of her life, there in the underground shelter, surrounded by her comrades.

There is an increasing sense in the Netherlands that the war might also head our way. If that were to happen, would we show the same resilience as the people of Ukraine? Would our factories provide shelter to those who needed it? Would we look after our neighbours and offer them help unconditionally?

The Dutch government regards Ukraine as a shining example. Because it shows how people, by caring for each other, can hold a country together. That is the fabric of society.

There are many ways to resist the enemy. Not forgetting someone’s birthday, looking out for another person – these are also acts of resistance. This mentality has been completely underestimated by Putin. It inspires our governments to continue supporting Ukraine even more.

Tomorrow we are signing a memorandum of understanding on the protection of our critical infrastructure with Ukraine’s State Service of Special Communications and Information Protection.

As a country that hosts several international courts and tribunals, the Netherlands has taken responsibility for ensuring there will be no impunity for the perpetrators of international crimes committed here.

I’d like to highlight some elements of our cooperation. The Netherlands submits evidence to Eurojust’s Core International Crimes Evidence Database. It is also financing the project entitled ‘Protecting Victim Rights through Judicial Accountability in Ukraine’, which draws on Dutch expertise and European best practices. This project was launched earlier this year and contributes, among other things, to a more victim-centred justice system. It also supports efforts to strengthen, where necessary, Ukrainian judicial institutions. And victims and next of kin are being given a more prominent role in order to develop effective legal reforms.

In this context I congratulate Ukraine on its ratification of the Ljubljana-The Hague Convention. And I call on all states that have not yet signed the convention to do so. This will ensure that victims are given more protection and can exercise their rights. This includes improved access to justice and reparation payments.

Holding perpetrators to account can promote the healing process for survivors and next of kin. We witnessed this in the Netherlands, with the trial of those responsible for the downing of flight MH17 in eastern Ukraine in 2014. We, the international community, need to acknowledge how hard it is to give witness testimony, in part by offering psychological support.

Ladies and gentlemen, you will of course hear many more details today about what we’re doing for victims and witnesses of this terrible war.

Because they are our main focus today.

They have to carry on with their lives, now and in the future.
And they are the reason we will not falter in our efforts.

Here I’d like to quote the nineteenth-century Ukrainian poet and writer Taras Shevchenko. He said:

‘The most important thing in the world will always be the people who were with you in the most difficult times.’

Let us, the international community, be there for the Ukrainians in these terribly difficult times.

Thank you.

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Oleksiy, from the Netherlands I am pleased to give you … this bunch of tulips.