Do not confiscate, but freeze – as a guarantee

The European Commission has received an alternative proposal: instead of confiscating Russian assets, keep them as a guarantee of Russia’s participation in the restoration of Ukraine.

As writes Reuters, the initiative was taken by Didier Reynders, Commissioner for Justice of the European Commission. He believes that such an option would be more effective and more legal.

He recalled that the European Union is currently considering the possibility of confiscation of sanctioned Russian property without a court verdict, “but this is associated with a large number of legal problems, and we are not sure about it yet,” he quotes “European Truth”.

The European Commissioner acknowledges that Canada, the US and Italy have experience with civil forfeiture. However, Reynders is sure, for this it is necessary to prove the direct involvement of property in a criminal offense (corruption, for example), so that from a legal point of view the confiscation is correct.

As an alternative, he proposes to freeze Russian assets until Russia agrees to pay for the restoration of Ukraine after the war:

“These funds can serve as a guarantee of Russia’s participation in the reconstruction of Ukraine. Instead of being confiscated, they can be kept frozen for a long time.”

Earlier, Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, said that EU is developing legislation that would allow the confiscation of sanctioned Russian assets and use them for the post-war reconstruction of Ukraine.

And in Canada, amendments to the law on special economic measures came into force, which provides for the possibility of confiscation of assets that fell under sanctions due to the Russian invasion and their use in support of Ukraine.

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