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High-Level Meeting of the International Coalition for the Return of Ukrainian Children

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Thank you dear Martha.

OK And now I give the floor to Anita Anand, the Foreign Minister of Canada. Thank you so much. Good evening.

Everyone, I want to thank obviously Minister Sabina and the Ukrainian people for their steadfast engagement on this issue,

but on so many other issues.

We are here for you and we will stand with you in the long and the short term,

as I've told you so many times before.

And my sincere thanks to all members and supporters of the International Coalition for the return of Ukrainian children.

We welcome especially those who are considering joining the coalition as well.

We are so honored to chair this coalition with Ukraine,

and it was created with a clear purpose, as you know.

It was created to help secure the return of Ukrainian children who've been unlawfully deported and forcibly transferred by Russia.

And you know, many of us in the room are mothers.

We almost need to take a step as Kaja Kallas did yesterday with her child to say,

How can we do more to help?

It is not something that we're going to accomplish today, but as Andre said in the media avail we did earlier,

it's the international pressure that will make a difference ultimately. And so. Certitude.

L'importance de l'effort continuel partout dans le monde et aussi ici à table.

So the coalition, if we could just talk about the progress, has focused international attention on this issue.

It has 49 members now, and since the last high-level meeting, Cyprus,

Switzerland, Monaco, Panama, and the OSCE parliamentary assembly have joined. So this is good news.

But the fact remains that out of 20,000 cases,

only 2100 children have been returned and only 150 this year.

So the statistics need to improve and we need to work together on new technologies, on tracing,

on artificial intelligence, not only to identify Ukrainian children,

but to bring them home and then to rehabilitate.

And on that note,

I'd like to focus on the three main pillars of Canada's approach returns.

Ukraine and its partners have done significant work, but the pace needs to accélérer.

Nous devons renforcer la capacité de l'Ukraine à identifier les enfants,

confirmer où ils se trouvent et à faire avancer les dossiers individuels.

And that is going to put more and more pressure on Russia the more and more those returns accelerate. Second is rehabilitation and reintegration.

Of course return is only one step in the child's recovery.

If you think about the level of indoctrination and the fact that these children are being forced to learn the Russian language,

to practice the religion and the culture of the Russian people, you will understand that psychological,

educational, familial, and community-based support are going to be absolutely fundamental.

We need to scale what works and support Ukrainian institutions and organizations working with affected children and families,

and that's exactly what Canada will continue to do, dear Andre. Troisièmement, c'est la reddition de comptes.

Ça c'est les les les règles internationaux et aussi le droit international.

And what we need to do is to ensure that there's accountability for the absolute travesty that is being committed.

Every day when a Ukrainian child is taken from their family,

and I'll say that Canada's support for Ukraine through all of this remains firm.

Last week in Armenia,

Prime Minister Carney and I met President Zelensky and Minister Sabina at the European Political Community Summit.

And we discussed Canada's continued support for Ukraine,

including a top-up of a pearl package of $270 million.

We talked about our continued support for Ukraine.

We talked about the $25 billion that Canada has put on the table for Ukraine,

one of the highest per capita levels of assistance that Ukraine has received.

And in that vein we won't stop at finding initiatives where we can support Ukraine.

And so this co-chair of the coalition with Ukraine to co-lead an initiative that has to continue is absolutely fundamental.

And what we will do in September of this year,

and you'll all be invited to Toronto for another iteration of the efforts to bring Ukrainian children home. It will be in Toronto.

It will be on September 28 and 29, and that will be right after the UN General Assembly,

and we really look forward to seeing you all there. Donc nous avons une situation très urgent.

Nous devons continuer de travailler ensemble, de coordonner ensemble,

de s'assurer que les enfants vont retourner vers l'Ukraine,

vers leur maison, leurs familles. And that's how we measure success.

We measure success by the return of every single child to their families,

and that is the work that Canada will continue to support. Mr President

Media information
ID I-289300
Date 11/05/2026
Duration 07:26
Languages Original
Personalities Anita Anand
Location Justus Lipsius building, Brussels (17h00-17h15)
Institution Council of the European Union
Views 57