PARIS, December 11. /TASS/. The expropriation of frozen Russian assets, including those held on the international Euroclear platform in Belgium, could lead to a collapse of European financial markets and a crisis comparable to the Great Depression, Jacques Sapir, French economist and academic director of the Paris School of Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences, said in an interview with TASS.
"If the reputation of Euroclear, which manages international deposits equal to 14 times France's GDP, is called into question, then we should expect massive withdrawals of funds. Such withdrawals could indeed trigger a collapse of European financial markets - Frankfurt, Paris, and possibly London," Sapir said.
According to him, "this will have extremely dire consequences for the largest European banks."
"As a result, the EU will face a general liquidity crisis, the consequences of which could be comparable to the Great Depression of 1929," Sapir said.
He argued that this is precisely why Valerie Urbain, head of Euroclear, "does not rule out the possibility of suing the European Union in the event of an attempt to confiscate Russian assets."
The European Commission hopes to secure a decision from EU countries at the December 18-19 summit to expropriate 210 billion euros in Russian assets, 185 billion euros of which are blocked on the Euroclear platform in Belgium. Belgium opposes this decision, demanding legally binding guarantees from all EU countries that they will compensate the Kingdom for the potential financial losses caused by Russia's retaliatory measures.
Russian President Vladimir Putin noted that the confiscation of Russian assets being discussed in Europe would be an act of theft. Russian Justice Minister Konstantin Chuychenko told TASS that proposals for a response to the possible seizure of Russian assets by Western countries have already been submitted to the country's leadership. Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov reiterated that Moscow will not leave such actions unanswered.