Lithuania will cooperate with the International Criminal Court in The Hague to protect witnesses involved in investigations of war crimes committed in Ukraine, the Interior Ministry said Monday.
The Lithuanian government last week agreed to ask President Gitanas Nausėda to authorise Interior Minister Vladislav Kondratovič to sign the agreement with the ICC.
Once the agreement is in place, the government will retain the right to decide whether specific ICC witnesses may be relocated to Lithuania, the ministry said.
“The agreement sets out the basic conditions and exceptions for when and under what circumstances the government undertakes to relocate ICC witnesses and when it may terminate such an undertaking,” the ministry said in a statement. “It also stipulates that all costs related to the protection and relocation of witnesses shall be covered by the ICC, except for the salaries of the officers providing protection.”
Witnesses relocated under the program will receive temporary residence permits in Lithuania, along with housing, financial benefits, and access to integration services. These include education, language and skills training, health care, social services, and assistance in finding employment and achieving self-sufficiency.
The Interior Ministry said the agreement is scheduled to be signed October 15 in The Hague, Netherlands.
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