The EU wants to approve this Friday the freezing of Russian assets for an indefinite period | World

The proposal is expected to be approved this afternoon, by qualified majority.

The new freeze will remain in effect “until there is no longer an immediate threat to the EU’s economic interests.” It will replace the current system, which requires renewing the freeze every six months by unanimous vote of the Member States.

The indefinite delay also eliminates the risk that Hungary and Slovakia, whose governments have close relations with Moscow, would refuse to renew the measure, forcing the EU to return the money to Russia. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said on social media that the measure would cause “irreparable damage to the EU”.

“Hungary protests against this decision and will do everything in its power to restore a state of legality,” he added.

Russia’s central bank said the EU’s plans to use its assets were “illegal” and that it reserved the right to use all available means to protect its interests.

In a separate statement, the bank said it was suing Euroclear, the Belgium-based central securities institution that holds 185 billion euros of the total frozen in Europe, alleging harmful actions that affect its ability to dispose of its funds and securities.

Euroclear has faced Russian lawsuits in Moscow courts since the EU froze its assets in 2022 following the invasion of Ukraine.

The indefinite freeze aims to convince Belgium to support the EU’s plan to use frozen Russian money to provide a loan of up to 165 billion euros to Ukraine to cover its military and civilian budgetary needs in 2026 and 2027.

The loan would only be repaid by Ukraine when Russia paid war reparations to kyiv, effectively making it an advance gift of those future payments.

“We believe that the reparations proposal is by far the best option, not least because it does not put pressure on countries, on public finances or on public debt levels,” said Danish Finance Minister Stephanie Lose, whose country holds the rotating EU presidency.

“There are still some concerns that need to be resolved. It is natural that there will be discussions, but we will continue to work to clarify all points and hopefully pave the way for a decision at next week’s European Council,” he said arriving at the bloc’s finance ministers’ meeting.