The EU on Monday froze Russian assets in Europe indefinitely to ensure that Hungary and Slovakia, whose governments are friendly to Moscow, cannot prevent billions of euros worth of funds from being used to support Ukraine, Reuters, the Associated Press and DPA reported, citing the bloc's Danish presidency, BTA reported.
Through a special procedure designed to be applied in exceptional economic circumstances, the EU blocked the assets until Russia abandons its war in Ukraine and compensates Kiev for the serious damage caused over the past almost four years.
Until now, all 27 member states had to vote unanimously every six months to continue freezing Russian assets, it said DPA.
European Council President Antonio Costa said European leaders had committed in October to "keep Russian assets frozen until Russia ends its aggressive war against Ukraine and compensates that country for the damage it has caused. Today we have fulfilled this commitment."
“The EU has just decided to freeze Russian assets indefinitely. This ensures that Russian funds worth up to 210 billion euros will remain in the EU unless Russia fully pays reparations to Ukraine for the damage it has caused. We will continue to increase pressure on Russia until it takes negotiations seriously. The European Council meeting next week will be crucial to ensuring Ukraine's financial needs in the years to come,“ wrote in “Ex“ European foreign policy chief Kaia Kallas.
It is a key step that will allow EU leaders to decide at a summit next week how to use tens of billions of euros worth of Russian central bank assets to guarantee a huge loan to help Ukraine meet its financial and military needs over the next two years, the AP notes.
The move would also prevent the frozen assets from being part of any talks to end the war without EU approval. A 28-point plan drawn up by US and Russian envoys called for the EU to unfreeze the assets for use by Ukraine, Russia and the United States. That plan, which emerged last month, was rejected by Ukraine and its backers in Europe.