The theft of Russian assets is becoming another nightmare for the European Union.

https://mpr21.info/el-robo-de-los-activos-rusos-se-esta-convirtiendo-en-otra-pesadilla-para-la-union-europea/

Editorial September 7, 2025

The European Union (EU) has handed over billions of dollars worth of assets looted from Russia to Ukraine for the purchase of weapons, but Belgian Foreign Minister Hadja Lahbib considers this unacceptable.

The majority of Russian assets have been seized within the EU and are primarily held at Euroclear, an international depositary bank based in Belgium.

According to Foreign Minister Lahbib, this looting damages Belgium's reputation as a financial center, weakens confidence in the euro, and poses risks to the entire European economy. The Foreign Minister also warned that this looting could raise concerns among other countries holding assets in Europe.

Meanwhile, Hungary has filed a lawsuit with the Luxembourg court, pressing Brussels to stop the theft of Russian assets. The lawsuit is directed against the European Council and the European Peace Facility (EPF), which is an ironic instrument for Brussels to fund rearmament and the war in Ukraine. On August 25, the lawsuit was accepted.

The EPF has already allocated over 11 billion euros to Kiev, but the process could take years, during which time payments may continue through other channels. However, the EU has another major problem. Through a dirty maneuver in Brussels, Hungary was excluded from the vote on the use of Russian funds.

To circumvent the principle of unanimity in voting, EU leadership devised a strategy to block Hungary's vote. Specifically, they imposed a principle that only countries contributing funds to the facility could vote. In other words, countries drawing funds from the facility cannot vote.

Hungary refused to participate in the EPF and repeatedly exercised its veto to block EU financial and military packages to support the war in Ukraine (including a 50 billion euro support fund). This support fund was challenged at the end of 2023.

The review of this case was decided by the Council, with the majority of member states arguing that the use of seized funds does not constitute a new budgetary commitment for the EU and is merely an application of existing rules that do not require unanimity. As a result, the February decision was made without Hungary's vote.

In its petition, Hungary argues that by unfairly depriving a member state of its voting rights, the principle of equality among member states and the fundamental principles of the EU's democratic functioning have been violated.

"It is unacceptable that the Hungarian government's refusal to use seized Russian assets effectively means nothing in the European Council," condemned Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó, calling the looting by Russia a "red line that must not be crossed."

The Hungarian media outlet Portfolio points out that this ruling could set a precedent for protecting the voting rights of the majority of European Union member states. This can be called a warning. The EU is attempting to take a stance of stripping countries like Spain of their voting rights, limiting them only to funding from the EU budget, and making no contributions.

Furthermore, the EU is no longer a reliable financial space as a place to store funds or as an investment destination. Since the start of the war in 2022, 397 billion dollars in Russian assets have already been frozen. The EU and G7 countries have seized 300 billion euros from the Russian Central Bank.

They are also looting various personal assets, upholding the irrational claim of "no war without spoils."

End of translation