- cross-posted to:
- europa@lemmy.world
- cross-posted to:
- europa@lemmy.world
German chancellor Friedrich Merz has called on the EU to use frozen Russian assets to finance Ukraine’s war effort, arguing the move could unlock a €140bn loan for Kyiv and show “staying power” against Russian aggression.
In a stark reversal of Berlin’s previous scepticism about tapping seized Russian assets, Merz said the loan should be used to fund military equipment, with EU governments deciding on procurement alongside Kyiv.
The appeal from the leader of Europe’s largest economy and Ukraine’s biggest backer comes as the European Commission examines options to leverage the €194bn worth of Russian assets held at Euroclear, Belgium’s central security depository.
[…]
There are asset freezes of Russian individuals and entities across the EU, but the bloc has also been freezing ~250bn euros held by Russia at Euroclear, a financial services infrastructure company based in Belgium. It is said that the majority of Russia foreign-held assets are there (Russia itself confirmed before the full-scale invasion that it held more than 300bn euros outside the country). The assets at Euroclear are mainly currencies, government bonds and other securities (of which many may have matured in the meantime).