EU member states agree to indefinite freeze on Russian Central Bank assets held in Europe
European Union member states have voted in favor of imposing an indefinite freeze on €210bn Russian Central Bank assets held in Europe.
The asset freeze had previously required renewal every six months, making it vulnerable to potential vetoes by Hungary and Slovakia that would have allowed Russia to reclaim the funds.
However, on Friday, the EU invoked its rarely used emergency powers to circumvent potential vetoes from Hungary and Slovakia and made the asset freeze indefinite.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban called the move unlawful, denouncing the EU Commission for “systematically raping European law.”
Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico also condemned the move, arguing that “providing tens of billions of euros for military spending is prolonging the war” between Ukraine and Russia.
Belgium, Italy, Bulgaria, and Malta, which supported the measure, reportedly stressed that the “vote does not pre-empt in any circumstances the decision on the possible use of Russian immobilized assets, which needs to be taken at leaders’ level.”
Earlier, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov had warned the EU that seizing Russia’s assets would be tantamount to theft, vowing to retaliate.
Belgium holds the bulk of Russia’s assets in Europe. In retaliation, the Russian central bank initiated legal proceedings against Belgian clearinghouse Euroclear on Friday.
Russia holds over $300 billion in assets that the Russian central bank has set aside in Western financial institutions.
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