“The reaction will follow from all over the world”: what is behind the EU attempts to confiscate Russia’s foreign assets

Since the beginning of the Russian special operation in Ukraine, the European Union has blocked the assets of Russian businessmen in the amount of about €10 billion, the German agency DPA reported, citing data from the European Commission (EC).

“During the Ukrainian war, Russian oligarchs lost access to luxury yachts, real estate and other assets worth nearly €10 billion,” DPA claims.

At the same time, on April 8, the Assets Freeze and Seizure Task Force, created by the EC to ensure coordination at the EU level on the implementation of sanctions against the Russian and Belarusian oligarchs included in the list, reported that the amount of a similar list was € 6.7 billion. She also clarified, that operations worth about €196 billion were also put on stop.

In addition, according to the DPA, the European Commission will also have to consider a bill that would allow frozen Russian assets to be confiscated and transferred to Ukraine, for example, as assistance for the reconstruction of the country.

However, so far the EC has only voiced a proposal to equate the circumvention of sanctions with a crime in the EU.

The expediency of expanding the list of crimes there is explained, in particular, by the need to monitor the conscientiousness of the implementation of restrictions imposed on Russia due to actions in Ukraine.

“Such common EU rules, in turn, will make it easier to investigate, prosecute and ensure that non-compliance with restrictive measures is punishable in all Member States equally,” the European Commission website says.

In this regard, it is proposed to add a violation of restrictive measures to the list of EU crimes under Art.

83(1) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU).

The EC explains that such a law will eliminate the difference in the approaches of the EU countries to determining the punishment for violation of imposed restrictions.

“Because of this inconsistency, persons subject to restrictive measures can bypass them,” the press release reads.

• European Commission building

• Gettyimages.ru

• © Westend61

Expropriation attempts

Meanwhile, the idea of ​​withdrawing frozen Russian foreign assets, whether private or state, has been actively discussed in the European Union lately.

Thus, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki on May 25 called on the country's opposition to support amendments to the Constitution that would allow the confiscation of Russian property in the republic.

In his opinion, it would be "a huge shame" if the opposition suddenly took to defend "the property of the Russian oligarchs."

According to a March government report, Warsaw froze over 140 million zlotys ($33 million) in accounts on its territory.

The head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, also spoke out for the confiscation during her speech on May 24 at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos.

“We will, acting hand in hand, help Ukraine rise from the ashes ... We should use everything we can, including, if possible, the Russian assets we have frozen,” she stressed.

A day earlier, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia and Slovakia prepared a letter to EU finance ministers urging them to confiscate Russian assets and use them to rebuild Ukraine.

At the same time, according to a document seen by Reuters, if legal ways to seize property cannot be found, they could be used as leverage to force Russia to compensate Ukraine for the damage.

European Council President Charles Michel was the first in Europe to come up with this initiative.

In an interview with the Interfax-Ukraine agency on May 5, he expressed the opinion that the confiscation of Russian assets in favor of Ukraine is allegedly "a matter of justice."

This initiative was later supported by the head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell, speaking in favor of such a move in an interview with the Financial Times (FT) on 9 May.

“I would definitely support such a decision, because it is extremely logical,” he said.

The diplomat also stressed that the question of how to pay for the restoration of Ukraine has become one of the most important political issues, given the "incredible amount of money" that would be required.

• Flags of EU countries

• Gettyimages.ru

• © Dutchy

Legal hurdles

At the same time, the EU recognizes that, from a legal point of view, it will be extremely difficult to carry out the planned expropriation.

Thus, the head of the German Finance Ministry, Christian Lindner, in an interview with the FT on May 21, said that Germany is open with regard to this idea, but “there are still legal issues and consequences for the rules-based international order to be dealt with.”

He also opposed the seizure of private assets of Russian businessmen.

“Countries based on the rule of law provide guarantees (inviolability. -

) of private property.

The barriers to its confiscation are very high,” the minister reminded.

In his opinion, in this case it is better to choose a different tactic and convince wealthy Russians "to contribute to reparations to Ukraine on a voluntary basis."

The complexity of the “legal level of this issue” was also recognized by Charles Michel.

In an interview with Interfax-Ukraine, he recalled that there are 27 legal systems in the EU and in many EU member states this will require a court decision.

“This is a difficult and long process,” the politician explained.

However, the Kyiv authorities are not abandoning their attempts to speed up the process of transferring Russian assets to Ukraine.

Thus, the country's President Vladimir Zelensky, in a video message on May 20, called on Western partners to "legitimately recognize that Russia must be held liable" for the damage caused.

According to him, they must sign a multilateral agreement, on the basis of which all Russian funds and property located in the jurisdictions of the partner states, after freezing, should be confiscated and sent to a special fund for victims of hostilities.

Earlier, on May 13, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba addressed a similar request to the G7 countries.

“We are talking about hundreds of billions of US dollars and euros, and the premise is very simple: Russia must pay politically, economically and financially.

I appreciate the positive reaction of the G7 countries to my request,” the minister said.

• Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba

• Gettyimages.ru

• © Dogukan Keskinkilic/Anadolu Agency

"Essentially lawlessness"

Experts interviewed by RT believe that the likelihood of the EU adopting a bill on the confiscation of Russian foreign property in the current context is quite high.

However, as Pavel Feldman, Deputy Director of the RUDN Institute for Strategic Studies and Forecasts, noted, for this the Europeans will have to give up their principles.

“If the EU implements the idea of ​​confiscation, then European countries will have to step over the sacred principle of inviolability of private property and the rule of law.

And if there are still sober-minded people there, then they should understand that the confiscation of property without a proper legal basis is, in fact, lawlessness and a crime, ”he explained in an interview with RT.

His opinion is shared by the professor of the Higher School of Economics, political scientist Oleg Matveychev.

According to him, what Brussels is now discussing is an attempt to legalize "real robbery."

“It is clear that such actions completely destroy the reputation of the EU and the West as normal, civilized partners.

This leads to the fact that investors from other countries - China, India and especially the Arab countries - understand that this is not how they treat some small regional states, but with the largest assets of the largest owner in the face of the Russian Federation.

And they may be next in line if one day they fall into disgrace to the West, ”the expert noted in a commentary on RT.

He also admitted that such unfriendly actions by the European Union could complicate further negotiations with Russia.

In turn, Professor of International Law at Moscow State University Dmitry Labin, in a commentary to RT, noted that there may be problems with the adoption of a pan-European law on the confiscation of Russian property, since for its entry into force it is necessary that it be approved in all EU countries.

“The procedure for making any decision in the EU requires unanimity.

Only under this condition such significant issues come into force.

I believe that agreement on the current issue will be difficult to achieve, ”the analyst said.

Pavel Feldman also spoke in favor of the low probability of the adoption of such a bill.

“There is more noise here than real action on the part of the European allies.

Yes, as a PR measure aimed at supporting Kyiv, it looks beautiful.

But it is a completely different matter to adopt a bill that denies all the principles of the liberal European society on which it was formed and still stands,” the political scientist pointed out.

In his opinion, if Brussels, contrary to all legal norms, succeeds in pushing through such a bill, then it can strike at it itself.

“The reaction will come from wealthy people around the world.

They will begin to withdraw their assets, which they once concentrated on the territory of the European Union.

Simply because they will be disappointed in the EU as a place where they could safely invest their earned assets and not worry about their safety,” Feldman concluded.