Stuttgart (dpa / lsw) - A girl kidnapped by her mother from Ukraine to Germany does not have to be brought back to her home country. That was decided by the family senate of the higher regional court in Stuttgart, as the authority announced on Tuesday. According to the court, returning the child would pose a serious risk of physical or mental harm because Ukraine has been a war zone since February.
The mother of the almost two-year-old girl came to Germany with her daughter from the Ukrainian port city of Odessa last March after several air raid warnings. Because the woman did not have the father's consent, this constituted child abduction within the meaning of the Hague Child Abduction Income. The father, who was separated from the woman and had custody of her, applied for his daughter to be returned to the Ukraine.
First, the responsible district court in Stuttgart had rejected the father's applications. The Higher Regional Court upheld the decision and also rejected the father's application that the child should be taken to the Republic of Moldova as an alternative.
