Italy, Bulgaria, and Malta have joined Belgium’s calls for alternatives to a €210 billion loan scheme to Ukraine using frozen Russian assets, in a move that threatens to torpedo the EU’s goal of agreeing the so-called ‘reparations loan’ at next week’s crunch EU summit.
In a joint declaration, seen by Euractiv, the four countries said they supported the European Commission’s recent proposal to indefinitely immobilise Moscow’s sovereign funds held in the EU, but cautioned that the move should not “pre-empt” any potential use of the cash to support Kyiv’s war effort. The Commission pushed to immobilise the reserves indefinitely in order to avoid continuing to rely on Hungary’s Russia-friendly government to renew the measures every six months. […]
EU envoys formally voted on Friday to indefinitely immobilise the assets based on an emergency provision of the EU treaties.
Use of “Article 122” is critical to avoid the Moscow’s funds being returned to Russia if sanctions on the Kremlin are lifted – which could leave Belgium on the hook to repay hundreds of billions of euros to Moscow.
Euroclear, the Brussels-based clearing house, holds the vast majority of the €210 billion in assets earmarked for the loan.
Both Hungary and Belgium warned this week that the Commission’s decision to rely on Article 122 risks breaching EU law. Euroclear, Hungary and Belgium have also repeatedly questioned the legality of the loan scheme and warned that it could undermine the financial stability of the euro area – points also emphasised by the European Central Bank.
Invoking Article 122 allows a “qualified majority” of EU member states – 15 countries representing 65% of the bloc’s population – to freeze Moscow’s assets permanently. Currently, sanctions on assets must be renewed unanimously by all 27 member states every six months. Läs artikel