Russian aggressor will finally pay
To ease the burden on European taxpayers, co-founder of the International Center for Ukrainian Victory, Olena Halushka, and researcher at the New Europe Centeret, Leonid Litra, called for "the confiscation of assets of the Bank of Russia." Le Monde elaborated on their thinking.
While the second anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine was an opportunity to review actions already undertaken by European states, it was also a question of organizing future operations, intensifying efforts and "taking initiative to support Ukraine's victory."
In France, for example, President Emmanuel Macron did not hesitate to show his support for Ukraine and to get down to business. With an invitation to join NATO, delivery of Scalp missiles, development of a coalition of tanks (possible sending of troops to Ukrainian territory?)... Macron helped to solidify the Ukrainian army and halt the supply process on the Russian side. However, the war is still wreaking havoc.
“One of the options to ease the burden on European taxpayers, especially if American aid stops entirely, is the confiscation of assets of the Bank of Russia for a total amount of 300 billion dollars.” As long as Russia doesn't pay reparations, the G7 countries have committed themselves not to return these frozen assets. 410 billion dollars: this is the balance sheet of losses Ukraine suffered during the first year of conflict. Damage that continues to increase.
And it seems that Olena Halushka and Leonid Litra were heard last May, the Twenty-Seven validated an agreement “in principle” on the seizure of income from Russian assets frozen in the European Union in order to arm Ukraine. This means that between 2.5 and 3 billion euros per year could be released in Kiev's favor.
The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, announced this Friday, September 20 that “the Commission has adopted the proposals that will allow the European Union to lend 35 billion euros” to Kiev and specified it was "a huge step forward". A loan made possible thanks to frozen Russian assets. "We are now confident about the possibility of granting this loan to Ukraine very quickly," specified Ursula von der Leyen, even as winter approaches and promises to be harsh in Ukraine, especially considering that the enemy has destroyed many energy infrastructures.
(MH with Manon Pierre - Source: Le Monde - Illustration: Unsplash)