BRUSSELS, March 21. /TASS/. If the European Union chooses to confiscate the $210 billion it is holding in immobilized Russian assets, this would essentially be an "act of war," and would carry serious consequences, Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever said.
"We’re not living in a world of fantasy. we are in the real world, where if you take 200 billion euros from somebody there will be consequences," De Wever said as quoted by Politico.
De Wever cautioned fellow leaders to refrain from publicly "representing the frozen and immobilized assets like <...> a little piggy bank that you can just break with a hammer and then take the money out and spend it on whatever you want <...> because it's just not that simple."
The European Union, Canada, the United States and Japan froze $300 billion worth of Russia's assets after the start of the special military operation. Of these, about $5-6 billion are held in the United States, while the bulk of them are in Europe, including at Euroclear in Belgium, where $210 billion is stored. Moscow has warned that it will take immediate action if its assets are confiscated.