MOSCOW, January 28. /TASS/. Approving the confiscation of Russian assets would reduce confidence in the single European currency and create conditions for the eventual disintegration of the European Union (EU), according to an analytical review by the Roscongress Foundation.
"If in the coming year the European Union succeeds in agreeing on a plan that bears the hallmarks of expropriating Russian assets, this will undermine trust in the single European currency and damage financial stability, as well as erode confidence in the EU itself as an institution, with potentially fatal consequences for the bloc. The EU is seeking a way to make decisions on frozen assets by a qualified majority vote rather than unanimously, as is currently required," the document said.
The implementation of such a scenario would send a signal to dissenting EU members that their views are being disregarded. It was noted that this would prompt them to strengthen, on an individual basis, ties with countries that have strained relations with Brussels, such as Russia, China, and Iran.
Such a misalignment of policy, combined with divergent national interests and economic inequality, will weaken solidarity within the EU and create the conditions for the bloc’s eventual disintegration, Roscongress emphasized.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said during his year-end press conference that the confiscation of Russian assets in Europe would undermine confidence in the eurozone and the region’s image.
As previously reported by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, participants in the EU summit failed to agree on the expropriation of Russia’s frozen assets under the guise of a "reparations loan" to Kiev. Instead, it was decided to provide Ukraine with an interest-free loan of 90 bln euro through collective borrowing by EU countries.