Russia's war crimes, discrimination, and judiciary stand in Ukraine’s EU path

She stated this during a broadcast on the Espreso TV channel.

"We have serious problems with the functioning of the judicial system, particularly regarding the length of court proceedings. A large portion of courts remain understaffed.

There are also still issues with ill-treatment and torture in places of detention in territories controlled by the Ukrainian government. This concerns not only temporary detention facilities, pre-trial detention centers, or prisons, but also psychiatric hospitals, care institutions, geriatric homes, and orphanages—that is, various types of facilities where vulnerable population groups are held," Pechonchyk noted.

According to the head of the ZMINA Human Rights Center, Ukraine also faces problems with discrimination. The Law "On the Principles of Prevention and Combating Discrimination in Ukraine" was adopted back in 2012, during the Yanukovych era, and is now outdated. It is not harmonized with EU practices, not only in terms of legislation, but also in how it is applied in practice.

"Our sociological studies show that both the phenomenon of discrimination and its perception are widespread in society. At the same time, what people perceive as discrimination is not always so from a legal standpoint. The most commonly mentioned form is age discrimination, or ageism. Therefore, the issue of discrimination remains relevant," Pechonchyk noted.

The human rights advocate also added that a separate major block of issues on the path to the EU is connected to Russian aggression.

"This concerns not only holding the aggressor state accountable but also the obligations of the Ukrainian state to support and protect victims—of war crimes, crimes against humanity, internally displaced persons, and those who remain in temporarily occupied territories. There are significant problems with how the support system for these people functions.

There are also difficulties in investigating war crimes. The legislation is still not aligned with international standards, particularly with European Union law. A separate and extremely serious issue is the sheer number of war crimes. Over 150,000 have already been registered. Even the most developed legal systems cannot bear such a burden. At the same time, these crimes are among the gravest, have no statute of limitations, and can be investigated for decades, even generations, in case new evidence or information emerges," Pechonchyk explained.

• The European Union is working with Hungary to "overcome difficulties" regarding the opening of all negotiation clusters in 2025 concerning Ukraine's accession talks.
• On April 11, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán stated that his country would not allow Brussels to force it into supporting Ukraine’s membership in the European Union.