Posted on 10/25/2022 2:17:16 PM PDT by dennisw
Can Brussels raid the tens of billions of euros in Russian assets frozen by the European Union to pay for Ukraine’s recovery?
This thorny legal question is currently under examination by the EU Commission as the cash-strapped bloc looks for potentially €18 billion ($18 billion) next year to keep Ukraine afloat as it fends off Moscow’s invasion.
Ursula von der Leyen, the EU Commission's president, told reporters on Tuesday in Berlin that she had set up a task force to both map what assets exist as well as the preconditions that must be met to seize them.
“The will is there, but legally it is not trivial. There is a lot of work still in it to reach that goal,” she said during a press briefing on the sidelines of an international conference of experts for the reconstruction of Ukraine.
“Always to keep in mind we insist on the rule of law, and therefore we abide by the rule of law, and therefore this process has to be legally sound.”
Importantly, it's unclear whether this may eventually include the wealth of the Russian state or just illicit funds from Russian oligarchs, which is potentially easier to seize if illicitly gained.
Ukraine believes there is anywhere between $300 billion to $500 billion in Russian assets for the taking, which would go far in helping it rebuild, Ukraine Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said on Tuesday. He said critical economic infrastructure equivalent to 45% of its annual output has been destroyed since the war started and it expects its budget deficit next year to therefor amount to €38 billion.
“We must make sure the offender pays,” he said. “Too many times over the course of history we saw that the aggressors avoided the consequences.”
(Excerpt) Read more at msn.com ...
“There will be a great sucking sound as assets leave the reach of their “international bank and piracy association”.”
lol Russians are the original gangsta pirates. This has been built into their culture since the old USSR days. Their Army brass pirated so much, that half their military vehicles and tanks were/are non-functional. The high point was old, oxidized Chinese tires coming off the rims. As they ran like rats, from their go at Kiev back in February.
actually, Russia already did this when they seized the assets of European companies back in the Spring
so, this would be merely evening things up ...
“But the yacht must include the yachting girls”
Like Meghan Markle?...
US/GloboHomoNazi Piracy, that’s what the world will decide, after the Biden - Democrat World Wide Recession.
Russian assets? What does that mean?
Russian State assets?
That’d be funny and quite a burn on Putin.
But if they’re private investments, eg retirement etc…, of private Russian citizens, that’s another matter.
Piracy
————
Theft, stealing. Did I miss the trials? Stealing private citizens ( whoever they are) assets without a trial is wrong. Stealing a sovereign nation’s wealth without trial is war.
—”But the yacht must include the yachting girls”
Just how many “yachting girls” can afford to maintain in the style to which they are accustomed?
Is there a tax on their services?
Agree.
These Pooty pots are really cracking me up. Fines for misbehavior are not “stealing” if they are within an order of magnitude of the damage done.
Yea and how much will come back to the US tax payers? ZERO
The real question is
Does Putin belive that judicious global thermonuclear warming might thaw his assets?
A. Yes
If they ratchet up they lose all of it for certain.
And everything else, like all their remaining exports and assets everywhere else on earth. No ships shall sail, no pipelines will flow.
For every tit there is a tat, for every tat there is a tit.
There's a fair number of posters on this thread that don't seem to understand the concept of "international law" and why it's in place.
It's one thing to push Serbia and Libya around - but the consequences of pushing around a country that can shove back should be considered.
“Trouble can be purchased cheaply, though the refund may be more than you can bear.” Roger Zelazny, Creatures of Light and Darkness
The West is not the Dad of the world.
They're finding that out, right along. Losing the economic war they started is painful, even though they won't admit it.
That is something states are allowed to do.
That is why constitutions are written, to limit what a state is allowed to do to its own people.
But between states, it is a matter of agreements between them. All of those are in flux with respect to Russia due to its own violation of treaties.
Instead of hashing this out in Brussels, they should get together in Versailles and hash out a Treaty that Russia will be forced to sign. There is prior precedent for such an action.
Russia has always had the option to declare war on whomever. A casus belli is just a matter of declaring it so. The US could have done the same vs the USSR for anything and everything in the Cold War. The US or any country in Europe could do the same tomorrow wrt Russia, for all sorts of reasons similarly.
Hitting the German embassy in Kiev with a missile say.
The question is whether the remedy is worth the cost.
Quite. This is the sort of resolution that will end this war.
Russia can mitigate this inevitable result through an attitude of sincere regret, and a commitment to reform. That will have positive knock-on effects in Russia, as its present path of resource extraction and organized export of national wealth is crippling its economic growth.
All those assets held abroad represent almost 50% of its national wealth, which obviously has not been invested in Russia. This is outrageous economic malpractice.
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