Strasbourg – Leaders of the European Union (EU) will discuss on Thursday (October 23) at the European Council meeting in Brussels the initiative to release 185 billion euros from the frozen assets of the Russian central bank on the territory of EU member states. On Tuesday evening, Members of the European Parliament (EP) discussed this topic in Strasbourg, and Slovak MEPs also commented on the issue for TASR, reports TASR correspondent.
After Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the EU banned all transactions related to the assets and reserves of the Russian central bank. As a result, 260 billion euros of these assets are currently frozen worldwide, with approximately 210 billion euros located in the EU, the majority of which is held by Euroclear, a financial services company based in Belgium. Depending on interest rates, the returns from these immobilized assets could reach up to three billion euros annually.
The European Commission refers to the use of Russian frozen assets as a “reparative loan,” whereby the frozen assets would remain untouched and Kyiv would repay the loan amount only after Russia pays war reparations related to the destruction of Ukrainian cities and infrastructure.
“It is time for the aggressor to start paying for assistance to Ukraine.” Martin Hojsík
EP Vice-President Martin Hojsík (RE/PS) claims that it is time for the aggressor to start paying for assistance to Ukraine and added that the EU should have done this a long time ago. “When you invade another country and kill civilians there, why should your money be protected?” he stated, emphasizing that Russia must bear financial responsibility for the war in Ukraine. No aggressor in the world should be protected regarding their assets held in other countries, according to him.
“There is no clear support for using frozen Russian assets to assist Ukraine.” Branislav Ondruš
MEP Branislav Ondruš (independent/Hlas-SD) pointed out that previous EU summits indicated that there is no clear support for using frozen Russian assets to assist Ukraine. He reminded that Euroclear, which freezes up to 190 billion euros of the Russian central bank, had a legal analysis prepared, which states that this proposal is contrary to international law and could undermine confidence in the euro as a global reserve currency. Therefore, he believes the European Commission should withdraw from this proposal.
“I see many international legal risks. The reaction of several Western European leaders also showed that this is a poorly thought-out proposal,” he explained. According to him, the creative proposal of German Chancellor Friedrich Merz regarding a reparative loan for Ukraine does not address the problem of conflict with international law. (October 21)
