Member states of the European Union (EU) are discussing the possibility of using interest on Russian assets frozen in Europe to rebuild Ukraine after the war, European diplomacy chief Josep Borrell said this Wednesday.
“We are discussing what to do with the interest and who it belongs to – the blocked state or the one who blocked it,” the EU’s high representative for foreign affairs and security policy said during a diplomatic seminar event to be held this Wednesday. and on Thursday at the Fundação Oriente (Lisbon), referring to Russian assets that were frozen following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Europe has more than 320 billion euros of frozen Russian assets, “in addition to several million more belonging to Russian citizens,” but these amounts are unlikely to be used to help Ukraine, especially in rebuilding the country, according to the spokesman continued.
“There is a temptation to take money to pay for reconstruction, but it’s one thing to freeze it, and another to appropriate it,” Borrell recalled.
“We need to see how compatible this will be with international law,” he added.
Interest on these assets may present a different scenario.
“Who are they from, from the state that originally had them, or from the one who blocked them?” asked Josep Borrell, adding that such a possibility is being discussed in the EU, at the moment by representatives of the foreign affairs of each state.
However, the use of these interest rates depends on the unanimous decision of the 27 members of the European bloc and, as the Portuguese foreign minister said at a press conference, “the issue is more complex than it may seem at first glance.” “.
The Treasury is also looking into the possibility of Portugal taking a position, as well as the central banks of both Portugal and various European countries, João Gomes Cravinho said.
“It’s more a matter of time and opportunity,” Cravinho defended Gomes.
If consensus is reached among the 27 countries, the proposal will be formally presented by the head of diplomacy of the European Union, who has thus refused to advance his position.
“There is a strict duty on my part to maintain restraint regarding the state of the negotiations,” he said.
On February 24, 2022, Russia launched a military offensive against Ukraine that, in addition to killing several thousand people, caused the largest refugee crisis since World War II.
The Russian invasion was condemned by much of the international community, which responded by sending weapons to Ukraine and tightening economic and political sanctions against Moscow.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
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