BRUSSELS, October 22. /TASS/. Future generations of European taxpayers will pay for the theft of Russian assets by the European Commission and the European Parliament, Kirill Logvinov, Russia's acting permanent representative to the EU, told TASS.
He was commenting on the European Parliament's approval of a mechanism for lending 35 bln euros to Kiev using income from the reinvestment of frozen Russian assets.
"It is obvious that the parliament, although called "European," made a decision that contradicts European interests. It is unlikely that those who voted for it do not realize that future generations of European taxpayers will ultimately have to pay Russia for the theft," the Russian diplomat warned.
According to the diplomat, the European Union has committed an act of global theft by using income from frozen Russian assets to issue a loan to Kiev, which will damage the reputation of the euro and will contribute to the creation of an independent financial infrastructure within BRICS.
Theft on global scale
"The draft regulation adopted by the European Parliament on the establishment of the so-called 'cooperation mechanism for lending to Ukraine' is nothing else but an illegal attempt to create a veneer of legality for the theft of property from the Russian Federation," Logvinov stressed.
"The European Union is consciously committing an economic crime on a global scale. By turning illegitimate sanctions against the sovereign assets of a foreign state into an instrument of its foreign policy, Brussels is challenging the international financial system, dealing a blow to the euro as a reserve currency, and contributing to a serious deterioration in the investment climate in the EU. All this once again confirms the timeliness of working on formation of a stable financial infrastructure independent of Western whims at the BRICS summit in Kazan," the Russian diplomat said.
Justice and criminality
The Russian diplomat also drew attention to a statement of European Commissioner for Justice Didier Reynders who invited more countries to participate in this mechanism of lending to Kiev, which means essentially sharing the financial risks that Brussels is now taking. Logvinov noted that "the proposal to participate in the thieves' scheme only shows that the European Union continues to live in a distorted reality, which is commonly called the "Brussels bubble."
"All the states of the Global South and East understand well: today the EU considered itself entitled to "freeze" Russia's reserves, tomorrow any other country that does not want to submit to Western dictate may end up in its place," the head of the Russian mission said.
No illusions
"We had no illusions and have no illusions: the European bureaucracy has unleashed a full-fledged economic war against Russia. The expropriation of income from "immobilized" Russian assets is one of its numerous manifestations. This is a "rules-based order" in action. Ukraine has become for the European Union nothing more than a pretext to try out a concept alien to the global majority, aimed at maintaining Western dominance," he noted.
Strasbourg session
At an emergency plenary session in Strasbourg the European Parliament approved the mechanism proposed by the European Commission for providing Kiev with a 35 bln euro loan, which is to be repaid using profits from frozen Russian assets. A total of 518 MEPs voted for the mechanism, 56 MPs voted against, and 61 MPs abstained.
Following the approval by the European Parliament, the EU Council is expected to consider allocation of 35 billion euros to Ukraine before the end of this week.
However, European Commissioner for Justice Didier Reynders, who oversees attempts to expropriate Russian sovereign assets frozen in EU jurisdictions in the European Commission, stressed that Kiev will receive the loan only if the EU's preliminary political conditions are met, which will be set out in a separate memorandum.
The 35 billion euro loan from the EU is intended to become part of the G7 credit tranche, which should total $50 billion, or 45 billion euros. Earlier, European Commissioner for the Economy Paolo Gentiloni expressed hope that perhaps the rest of the G7 countries can allocate a little more funds and, in this case, the European Commission would be able to slightly reduce the European part of the 35 billion euro loan.
The bulk of the sovereign assets of the Bank of Russia blocked in 2022, amounting to about 220 billion euros, are located in the jurisdictions of EU countries. The European Commission's actions to expropriate income from Russia's sovereign assets are based on the EC's January 2024 ruling that income from the reinvestment of frozen assets allegedly does not belong to Russia. Most experts both in Russia and around the world consider this thesis to be legally null and void.
In July, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stated that Russia would definitely respond to the theft of its assets in Europe. He stressed that Moscow intends to initiate legal prosecution of those involved. According to him, Europe has taken the worst path by deciding to use Russian assets to help Kiev.