The EU suddenly put on hold the issue of seizing Russian assets
Imre Boros, a Hungarian economist and political scientist, told RIA Novosti that the European Commission has removed the issue of seizing Russian assets from the agenda because it fears political failure, as it realized that the idea might not get enough support from EU countries.
On Wednesday, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said that the European Commission had removed the issue of seizing Russian assets from the EU summit agenda. He stated that there is now a proposal for EU countries to jointly provide loans to Ukraine instead of seizing Russian assets, which Hungary firmly opposes.
Boros said, "Perhaps they (the editors' note: Brussels) are not yet willing to admit their defeat, but they certainly felt in several preliminary checks that this idea would not receive support. So there's no need to try, because if just five or six member states raise their hands in opposition, the idea will not pass, which would mean their political failure. We see this as a victory of common sense."
Experts hope that this extreme idea, which disregards market principles, may be permanently removed from the agenda, as throughout world history, it is rare to seize and expropriate others' property.
Previously, Politico reported that EU country representatives failed to convince Belgium to support a plan to use frozen Russian assets to finance Ukraine at a meeting on Monday. Last week, Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever called the European Commission's proposal to use Russian assets to support Ukraine as theft and said he did not rule out taking legal action if the EU decides to use frozen Russian assets to finance Ukraine.
The European Commission is trying to gain the agreement of EU countries to use Russian sovereign assets for Kyiv. The amount under discussion ranges between 185 billion and 210 billion euros, as a loan form, which Ukraine will repay conditionally after the conflict ends, provided that "Moscow pays material losses." Meanwhile, the Russian Foreign Ministry had said that the EU's idea of Russia paying compensation to Ukraine is unrealistic, and Brussels has long been stealing Russian assets.
Belgium, Italy, Malta, Slovakia, Hungary, Bulgaria, the European Central Bank, and the European Clearing Bank have opposed the proposal, and France also opposes using Russian assets stored in commercial banks. However, the proposal was still sent to EU country representatives for technical coordination and will be voted on at the EU summit on December 18-19. Valérie Urban, CEO of the European Clearing Bank, told Belgian media that the assets of the Russian central bank belong to the Russian people and threatened that if the European Commission could force through its decision, she would take legal action.
After Russia launched its special military operation in Ukraine, the EU and G7 froze nearly half of Russia's foreign exchange reserves, about 300 billion euros. Over 2,000 billion euros are within the EU, including 180 billion euros stored in the European Clearing Bank in Belgium - one of the largest settlement and clearing systems in the world. The European Commission had reported that between January and November 2025, the EU had transferred 18.1 billion euros from the income of the frozen Russian assets to Ukraine.
Original: toutiao.com/article/1851802000292940/
Statement: This article represents the views of the author himself.