Koshta: Frozen assets of the Russian Federation are a guarantee of reparations for the aggressor

The President of the European Council believes that frozen Russian assets are already working in Ukraine's favor, and does not directly comment on the issue of their complete confiscation, writes dw.com.

Antonio Costa

Brussels wants Russian assets in EU member states to remain frozen because they are a guarantee that Russia will pay Ukraine post-war reparations, and the profits from these assets are collateral for a loan granted to Kyiv by the G7 countries, European Council President Antonio Costa said at the "Europe: Strengthening Through Crisis" event in Brussels on Tuesday, March 25.

"We have to make sure that the aggressor pays for the consequences of its aggression. And the first reason we keep Russian assets under control is to ensure that in the future they will be used to pay war reparations," Costa said.

According to him, the second reason why Russian assets in European banks should remain frozen is that the profits from these assets are guarantees for the loan that the G7 countries provided to Ukraine. “And these are not only EU member states, but also Canada, Japan and the USA,” the head of the European Council specified. At the same time, Kosta evaded a direct answer to the question of whether the EU intends to completely confiscate Russian assets frozen in the territory of its member states.

Kostha on Hungary's position: Despite diversity, we are achieving unity

Commenting on the issue of sanctions against Russia, the President of the European Council indicated that he does not see a threat that Hungary could block the EU's sanctions policy against Russia. Recall that the issue of approving sanctions is one of those that is adopted in the EU by unanimity. Recently, Hungary has been increasingly active in advocating for the abolition of sanctions against Russia.

Costa recalled that "so far we have had unanimity," and Brussels has already approved 16 sanctions packages. "We are a union of diversity, we have 27 member states, different nations with different histories and cultures, looking at the world from different geographical perspectives. The most important thing is that despite our diversity, we achieve unity," Costa said.

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