EU countries again seek to confiscate frozen Russian assets

Plans to finance Ukraine with over €200 billion in Russian central bank assets held in the EU under sanctions fell through last winter, as Belgium, where most of these funds are held, blocked the initiative, the Financial Times reports.

A letter from a coalition of states to the European Commission will call on the EU executive to resume work on the concept and seek clarification on progress in developing alternative legal and technical mechanisms that would circumvent Belgium's veto.

"The time has come to start a new discussion about how we can continue to use Russia's frozen assets to benefit Ukraine and ourselves," said Swedish Foreign Minister Maria Malmør Stenergård.

This is a call for the European Commission to carry out technical work to utilize these assets and alleviate Kyiv's budgetary needs.

The letter will be sent on Thursday.

Kyiv is making every effort to protect its cities from Russian missile attacks, and EU capitals are now concerned that the country requires additional funding beyond the €90 billion loan secured from the bloc's budget.

"The €90 billion loan is a manifestation of the EU's commitment to support Ukraine, but it is clearly insufficient," Stenergaard noted.

Belgium, as it did last year, is experiencing similar concerns: it fears legal reprisals from Russia and warns of risks to financial markets in the event of interference in sovereign assets.

"Nothing has changed since the last discussion and failure," noted one of the interlocutors.

The call to return to the frozen asset proposal coincides with intensifying debate over the size and funding of the next seven-year joint EU budget.

Photo: 24 Kanal.