European Parliament mulls seizure of Russian assets to help Ukraine

The Euroclear building in the centre of Brussels is at the centre of intense political discussions within the European Union, since the Belgian Securities Depository is believed to hold the lion's share of €258 billion's worth of Russian assets that have been frozen across EU countries. 

The EU institutions are divided over whether and how to confiscate this money to support Ukraine, having made the first €1.5 billion of interest generated from these immobilised Russian assets to Kyiv.

Some member countries, such as France and Belgium, believe that seizing these assets would be illegal and are therefore urging caution. Others are pushing to seize the money, which would represent more than the entire aid provided by Europe to Ukraine over the three-year-war.

Debate is also ongoing in the European Parliament, which held a debate on the issue on Wednesday. 

“There are governments which are particularly involved,” Renew MEP Sandro Gozi told Euronews. “Together with the European Central Bank and other EU institutions, they are working to verify what the legal and financial possibilities are. It's clear that, if there were no market and legal risk arising from confiscating the Russian funds, we would push to do it immediately.”

While seizing the interest on these assets, an initiative valued at €3 billion a year, presents almost no risks, some believe confiscating Russian assets themselves could threaten the confidence of foreign investors in the single currency. 

However, this argument is rejected by lawmakers from the Baltic States, Poland and other countries close to the Russian border keen to seize the money as soon as possible.

“Any decision needs to be anchored in international law,” Finnish Green MEP Ville Niinistö told Euronews. “So as long as international law is abided by in the confiscation, it is possible to do it. It's a separate thing. Euro stability and the euro market is very reliable for anyone to invest into.”

Another point of discussion is more strategic one. Some governments seem to believe that these Russian funds could also give the EU some leverage in any peace negotiations. They should be “part of the negotiation at the end of the war”, French President Emmanuel Macron said last week in Washington, opening up the notion of using the assets as a bargaining chip, or as a security guarantee for Ukraine after a peace deal.