The time to mobilize the returns generated by Russian financial assets frozen in Europe to arm Ukraine is drawing near. Although the initial idea was to dedicate the windfall to the reconstruction of the country, it has been taken into account what Kyiv has been saying to the EU for a long time (“Don’t send me electric generators because they will be destroyed, send weapons”), d ‘here is the initiative advanced by the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, recently before the European Parliament and then reaffirmed by the German Chancellor, Olaf Scholz.
The person in charge of the proposal, the High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security of the EU, Josep Borrell, will today propose to the Council to transfer 90% of the returns from the fund to the European Peace Mechanism to be able to use them in the purchase of armaments and ammunition for the benefit of Kyiv. The current legal interpretation of EU treaties implies that the EU budget cannot be used to acquire weapons, but this instrument is fed by national contributions, which is why the EU’s External Action Service (EEA) proposes to channel- through this route, considered the most expeditious to send military aid to Kyiv.
The remaining 10% of the money will go to the budget of the European Commission and can be dedicated to other activities.
“I hope that the European leaders will make a decision and send a clear message” about their determination to help Ukraine at the summit that starts tomorrow in Brussels, Borrell explained yesterday in a meeting with journalists at the headquarters while his services were the final touches to the documents that will be debated today by the ambassadors of the Twenty-seven and will arrive at the table of the European Council on Thursday. The proposal requires the unanimity of the Twenty-seven and Borrell admits that there is still not a total consensus between the governments.
“My answer [to the doubts] is to stop talking about hypotheses and start talking about concrete proposals”, adds the high representative. Reservations are expected from countries such as Ireland, Austria and Slovakia, but especially from Hungary. It will not be easy to get the agreement of the Hungarian Prime Minister, Viktor Orbán, who has put a stop to all the decisions taken so far by the European Union to help Ukraine. The proposal has the support of the European Fund for Peace, in which the rule that capitals can put limitations on the use made of their national contributions is already applied, which will allow Budapest to reaffirm its decision not to arm Kyiv.
Although the United States maintains pressure for the EU, where most of the Russian assets frozen since the invasion of Ukraine are located, to go a step further and directly confiscate the money, some 191 billion euros, the Twenty -i-seven maintain that there is no legal basis for this and will move forward with the plan launched in February, with the decision to legally separate the profits generated by the funds. Appropriating the funds “is not on the agenda”, assures Borrell, whose services have “fully” consulted the European Central Bank on the imminent proposal.
