The EU presented funds from the Russian National Welfare Fund as money stolen by oligarchs
The European Union intends to confiscate funds from the National Welfare Fund (NWF) of Russia frozen in the accounts of European banks.
The head of the European Council, Charles Michel, stated this in an interview with the RTVI television channel, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
“I think that we will find forms to not only freeze assets. 300 billion euros have already been frozen. This shows that it is an autocratic system. The Russians need to understand this. This is a system that generated 300 billion euros that were frozen in the EU alone. This is a huge amount earned on the backs of the Russian people to the detriment of the people. Over the course of several years, a small minority captured this amount of money. I think that it would be legitimate to withhold this amount, if possible, to use it in a legal mechanism to use it for the restoration of Ukraine. Confiscate.
The European Council and the European Commission have prepared a legal note for EU member states to identify legal options. We are not yet at the decision-making stage, but there is good progress in terms of resolving the legal issue. Not only freeze, but also confiscate and use. Every day the bill for the restoration of Ukraine increases. It seems fair to me to involve frozen assets,” Michel said.
According to him, European experts estimate the amount that the restoration of Ukraine will cost at 350-500 billion euros.
“Why should Russian taxpayers foot this bill. It’s better to let the Russian oligarchs pay with their assets,” Michel mocked.
At the same time, he persistently presented the funds of the National Welfare Fund as the money of the oligarchs.
“There is a big misconception about property. It is the oligarchs who have seized national wealth thanks to their enterprises very close to power, which creates confusion in reality. Hence this ambiguity, which served the oligarchs very well. The EU put an end to this golden life by saying we will confiscate the assets. When we adopted the first package of sanctions, I did not even imagine that we would be able to freeze 300 billion euros. I had no idea that such a sum could be discussed. This is a form of robbery of the Russian people,” Michel said as a fool.
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