After the recent threats of retaliation from Moscow, announced by the spokeswoman of the Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova in response to the freezing of Russian assets in Europe, the European Commission (EU) wanted to reiterate the legal solidity of its position.
A spokesperson for the EU Commission recalled the statements made last Friday by the EU Commissioner for Economy, Valdis Dombrovskis, who had already addressed the issue of safeguards for European financial institutions.
European safeguard: right of compensation
The protection mechanism provided for by the current sanctions regime is at the center of the European response. Commissioner Dombrovskis clarified that central securities depositories in the EU, such as Euroclear, are protected by a specific system.
“Under the current sanctions regime, central securities depositories in the EU,” such as Euroclear, “can offset any seizures in Russia with frozen or immobilized assets held in the EU,” the commissioner said.
This clarification comes following the announcement of the lawsuit initiated by the Central Bank of Moscow against Euroclear at the Russian arbitration chamber.
“Fully compliant with the law”: the hard line of the European Union
When asked about safeguards against possible retaliation, Dombrovskis insisted on the legality of the EU action.
* Legal soundness: “Let me remind you that, in general, our proposal is legally sound and fully compliant with European Union law and public international law.”
* Immunity respected: He then specified that the assets are not confiscated and that the principle of sovereign immunity is respected.
* Immobilization: The Commissioner recalled that the assets of the Russian central bank have been immobilized in line with the sanctions regime applied by Member States since the beginning of Russia’s illegal war of aggression, an action that complies with both EU law and international law.
Russian legal retaliation ‘speculative in nature’
The European Union expects the conflict to continue on a legal level.
“We can expect Russia to continue to initiate legal proceedings of a speculative nature to prevent the EU from enforcing international law and from pursuing Russia’s legal obligation to compensate Ukraine for the damages caused,” Dombrovskis warned.
For this reason, the Commissioner concluded, both in the current sanctions regime and in the new proposals, additional safeguards have been included to protect EU financial institutions that hold fixed assets. EU financial institutions holding such funds are considered “fully protected from legal proceedings”.