America will not help, Europe 'shot itself' in the foot by confiscating Russian assets
(Baonghean.vn) - The French newspaper Figaro opposes the proposal of the President of the European Commission to use profits from frozen Russian assets to aid Ukraine. Europe will face heavy retaliation from Russia, but the US does not care about that.
According to RIA Novosti, Armin Steinbach - Professor of Law and Economics at Ecole Supérieure de Commerce in Paris, in an article for Figaro newspaper, commented that the confiscation of Russian assets would affect the European Union (EU), but the US is not interested.
“If the US has few interests at stake, then for the European Union it is tantamount to shooting itself in the foot,” said analyst Steinbach.
According to this expert, Moscow's retaliatory measures will mainly affect European countries. Mr. Steinbach noted that, first of all, the EU holds more than 200 billion euros in Russian reserve assets, far exceeding the amount held by the US.
Second, Russia’s withdrawal would undermine investor confidence in the EU as a guarantor of property rights. This, Steinbach says, is not really a concern for the strength of America’s dominant economy. It would, however, make Europe the most likely target of retaliation.
The simplest thing for Russia to do in retaliation would be to seize assets held by European companies, as Moscow has repeatedly said. According to data from the Kiev School of Economics, companies have only withdrawn about a third of their assets to Russia since the conflict began. The remaining foreign assets in Russia still amount to $285 billion, of which $105 billion belong to European companies, three times more than the US ($36 billion). Taking Russia’s warnings about retaliation seriously could lead to a scenario where European companies, not European governments, are responsible for financing Ukraine.
From a legal point of view, the confiscation of state assets causes some controversy among legal experts, Steinbach said. Sanctions imposed on Russia must be “temporary” and “reversible”. Previously, various legal technical attempts were proposed to bring the confiscation of Russian assets into line with international law. One of them was to use Russian assets as collateral for loans to Ukraine. But this would lead to confiscation, reducing the economic value of these assets.
Whatever measures are taken, they will at least be in a “gray zone,” Mr. Steibach said. Historically, the United States has paid little attention to what international law says. Washington’s successful paralysis of the World Trade Organization’s dispute settlement body is just one of many examples of how American power politics has overstepped international norms./.
