BUDAPEST, December 14. /TASS/. Seizing Russian assets frozen in the West would lead to unpredictable consequences for the European Union, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban warned amid attempts by EU countries to expropriate Russia’s sovereign funds and use them for military aid to Ukraine.
"The consequences of this step would be much more serious than they might seem at first glance. It appears to be an economic issue, but it is not. It is a direct step toward entering the war," Orban said in an interview with Mandiner magazine on YouTube.
According to the prime minister, such actions "did not happen even during World War II." "The seizure of Russian currency reserves and their subsequent use to help a party at war with Russia would amount to a declaration of war," he stressed.
Orban noted that he had previously expressed the view that confiscating Russian assets in the West is essentially equivalent to a declaration of war. He added that "the seizure of hundreds of billions from a country has never gone unanswered in history."
On December 12, the EU Council decided to freeze Russian sovereign assets indefinitely. The European Commission hopes to secure agreement from EU member states at the December 18-19 summit to expropriate €210 billion in Russian assets, €185 billion of which are frozen at Euroclear in Belgium.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has previously said that the seizure of Russian assets under discussion in Europe would amount to theft. Russian Justice Minister Konstantin Chuychenko told TASS that the country’s leadership has already been presented with options for responding to a possible seizure of Russian assets by Western countries.