“Brussels plans to block Russian assets without the need to coordinate decisions with all EU countries. This will allow not to continue the freeze every six months, but to leave the funds under sanctions for an indefinite period, reports the Financial Times. The European Union found an article in the treaties that allows economic decisions to be made without the need to obtain unanimous support from all members. It provides for use in serious cases”, — write on: ua.news
Brussels plans to block Russian assets without the need to coordinate decisions with all EU countries. This will allow not to continue the freeze every six months, but to leave the funds under sanctions for an indefinite period, reports the Financial Times.
The European Union found an article in the treaties that allows economic decisions to be made without the need to obtain unanimous support from all members. It provides for application in cases of serious economic shocks – to which Brussels includes Russia’s war against Ukraine.
This opens the way for Russian assets in the EU to be frozen indefinitely. Previously, the decision to extend the blockade every six months could be blocked by one country, for example, Hungary. The European Commission is now proposing to bypass this veto, which could be an “aggressive power grab,” and legal disputes over such a move are likely to be in the courts.
The new approach considers two options for using frozen assets to support Ukraine in 2026-2027. The first is a loan through market borrowing, guaranteed by the EU budget. The second is the so-called “reparation loan” at the expense of frozen funds of the Bank of Russia and assets in European banks. In total, up to €210 billion can be provided to Kyiv, of which €140 billion is proposed to be kept in accounts in the Belgian depository Euroclear, another €25 billion in accounts in banks of other EU countries.
At the same time, the Financial Times clarifies that it is not about confiscation: funds that cannot be withdrawn by Russia due to sanctions will be transferred to the EU as a zero-interest loan. If the EU legislation is changed to “indefinite blocking”, the banks will not have to comply with the Kremlin’s demands to withdraw funds, and the EU will have to repay this debt.
Some countries and institutions oppose “reparation credit”. In particular, Belgium is not ready to take risks, Euroclear and the ECB criticize the legal justification, and Moscow calls any attempts to work with its assets “kidnapping” and threatens appropriate measures against states and specific individuals.
This initiative is designed to increase financial support for Ukraine and minimize the risks of withdrawing Russia’s frozen assets due to internal disagreements in the EU.
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