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The European Union is set to freeze Russia’s assets in Europe, a move aimed at forcing Moscow to end its war in Ukraine and Provide compensation for nearly four years of devastation.
Expected on Friday, this decision is an important step towards EU leaders are to agree next week how to leverage the Russian Central Bank’s tens of billions of assets Underwriting a significant loan for Ukraine’s financial and military needs over the next two years.
However, the initiative has been strongly condemned by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s closest ally in Europe.
He accused the European Commission, which drafted the decision, of “systematically raping European law”.
A total of €210 billion ($247 billion) of Russia’s assets are frozen in Europe. The vast majority of the fund – about €193 billion ($225 billion) at the end of September – is held at Belgian financial clearinghouse Euroclear.
These funds were frozen under sanctions imposed by the European Union following Russia’s full-scale invasion on February 24, 2022. Their continuation requires renewal every six months, subject to approval from all 27 member states.
Hungary And Slovakia opposes providing more aid to Ukraine.
Friday’s expected decision, which is based on EU treaty rules that allow the bloc to protect its economic interests in certain emergency situations, would prevent them from imposing sanctions and make it easier to access the assets.
Orbán said on social media that this meant “the rule of law has ended in the EU, and Europe’s leaders are putting themselves above the rules.”
He wrote, “The European Commission is systematically raping European law. It is doing so in order to continue the war in Ukraine, a war that is clearly unwinnable.” He said Hungary would “do everything in its power to restore legal order.”
In a letter to European Council President Antonio Costa, who will chair the summit starting on December 18, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico said he would refuse to support any steps that “would involve covering Ukraine’s military expenses for the coming years.”
He warned that “the use of frozen Russian assets could directly jeopardize US peacekeeping efforts, which are directly dependent on the use of these resources to rebuild Ukraine.”
But the Commission argues that the war has imposed huge costs by increasing energy prices and blocking economic growth in the EU, which has already provided Ukraine with about €200 billion ($235 billion) in support.