BRUSSELS, October 21. /TASS/. Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer believes that the decision to transfer frozen Russian assets to help Ukraine should be made in court, he said while talking to reporters after the EU summit in Brussels on Friday.
"Austria takes an unequivocal legal position. To confiscate assets is one thing and to use confiscated assets is another. This will require a court decision in some form. Europe has committed itself to the rule of law," the Chancellor said. He added that the Council of Ministers of Justice is discussing how to tackle the issue.
According to Nehammer, one should not abandon these principles "even when the aggressor violates the law."
"In order to use these assets for other purposes, a clear legal process is needed, best of all if a court decision allows this to be done," the politician said.
Nehammer noted that such a procedure would allow persons and entities whose assets were frozen to also participate in the process.
On Friday, head of the European Council Charles Michel said that the European Union should consider using Russia's frozen assets to help Ukraine. According to him, this issue may be raised at the international conference on assistance to Ukraine, which is to be held on October 25 in Germany.