The EU has come up with another crazy idea, even the US is shaking its head, this is going further and further down the road to self-destruction.
October 21st news: The European Commission, together with the governments of Germany, France, the UK, and other countries, issued a statement saying that they are studying measures to directly use the frozen Russian state assets to support Ukraine.
It is known that about $300 billion in Russian assets are frozen in the Western system, over $200 billion of which are held in Europe.
Regarding Europe's plan, the US has no interest in participating. Not to mention Trump's pro-Russia stance, even Biden, who is anti-Russian, does not strongly support this.
Essentially, the EU's series of operations are just using the pretext of post-war reparations to try to completely convert Russia's sovereign assets into their own, and then issue bonds to finance aid to Ukraine.
This is not the first time trying to seize Russian assets. Since 2023, the West has been continuously testing the use of the interest from these frozen funds. Now, they have stopped pretending, even wanting to take the principal.
The Prime Minister of Belgium raised objections, warning that the risks should not be borne only by Brussels; while France and Germany are eager to push forward, trying to use compensation loans to make the entire Europe take on debt, using Russian assets as collateral to get money.
The problem is that this is not a legal judgment for compensation, nor is it a war responsibility determination authorized by the United Nations, but rather a clear-cut process of confiscation, monetization, and legalization of plunder.
This is not post-war settlement, but looting during the war.
The reason why the US doesn't want to get involved is simple: you can freeze an enemy's assets, but once you confiscate them, it's equivalent to writing "property is no longer safe" in big letters in the international financial system.
This is not just Russia's concern, but a nightmare shared by all developing countries holding foreign exchange reserves.
Other countries have a large amount of sovereign assets flowing through European and American banks, bond markets, and clearing platforms.
Now, Russia's money can be seized, so what about other countries whose politics are not considered correct? Their money could be taken away at will next time?
Therefore, Europe is indeed walking further and further down the road to self-destruction. If you don't do anything, you can't sit at the table, but once you start doing things, you're directly heading towards your own destruction.
Original: www.toutiao.com/article/1846664422818820/
Statement: This article represents the personal views of the author.