The joint statement evokes the expected decision by the G7 leaders (Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, UK, and US) at their next meeting on whether \u2014 and how \u2014 to seize the nearly \u20ac300bn in Russian state assets frozen in western countries since February 2022. \u201cAs chairs and parliamentarians of our respective parliamentary foreign and European affairs committees, we collectively urge G7 leaders to explore all legal avenues to support Ukraine, starting with the creation of multilateral or bilateral loan facilities backed by the windfall profits generated by the frozen Russian assets,\u201d they write.<\/p>\n
However, they see this as only the first step. \u201cThe ultimate objective must be to fully confiscate all Russian assets and transfer them to Ukraine, ensuring that this process adheres to international law. Russia\u2019s war of aggression has already done almost \u20ac500bn in damage to Ukraine\u2019s infrastructure \u2014 and that amount grows daily,\u201d write the parliamentarians, referring to the fact that at least \u20ac3bn a month in outside financial assistance is required just to prevent a collapse of Ukraine\u2019s economy. \u201cAgainst numbers like these, confiscating \u20ac3bn in annual windfall profits on Russia\u2019s frozen assets simply is not a sufficient response to the challenge Russia has issued to Ukraine and its friends in the democratic world.\u201d<\/p>\n
The parliamentarians say in their joint statement that a multilateral or bilateral loan facility backed by windfall profits generated by the frozen Russian assets is estimated to only provide around \u20ac40bn-\u20ac50bn to Ukraine. \u201cWe see these proposals as a first step \u2014 not an alternative \u2014 to confiscating the nearly \u20ac300bn,\u201d they state.<\/p>\n
The parliamentarians affirm the need to step up our assistance to help Ukraine win this war \u2014 both for Ukraine\u2019s democratic European future and for our own security. \u201cTo do that, we need to be prepared to take big, bold decisions proportionate to the historical significance of our times. Our decision here will set a precedent either way. If we confiscate the entire \u20ac300bn in accordance with international law, we affirm the legal right to take countermeasures when a state like Russia grossly violates international law with its aggression,\u201d the statement reads.<\/p>\n
They see confiscating the full amount as sending a signal of our resolve to Vladimir Putin and other authoritarians who may seek to attack their neighbours that such aggression has severe financial consequences. \u201cLeading economists who support full confiscation point out that most market impacts were priced in at the time these assets were originally frozen two years ago \u2014 and that seizure in response to aggression would be too rare an occurrence to have major currency impacts. To do this, we urge the G7 to dispense with half-measures and to take the only step that will have the required impact \u2014 confiscation of all \u20ac300bn in frozen Russian central bank assets,\u201d the parliamentarians write.<\/p>\n
The joint statement was signed by chairs of committees and members of parliaments from the European Parliament and the parliaments of Belgium, Bulgaria, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Germany, Ireland, Italy, France, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Moldova, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Ukraine, United Kingdom, and United States. The Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Riigikogu Marko Mihkelson<\/strong> signed the statement on behalf of Estonia.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Chairs of foreign and European affairs committees and members of parliament from 19 countries and the European Parliament made a joint statement urging the G7 countries to forget half-measures and confiscate all \u20ac300bn in frozen Russian central bank assets.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":40825,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[50],"tags":[],"news_related_unit":[],"news_expired_unit":[],"class_list":["post-51623","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pressiteated"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n