German legal expert Prof. Dr. Armin Steinbach says that the seizure of Russian assets is a ‘bullet in the foot’ for Europe, as the US will not be affected by Russian countermeasures.
Writing for the Figaro newspaper, Prof. Armin Steinbach, an expert on law and economics at the School of Advanced Business Studies (HEC Paris) in Paris, evaluated the idea of seizing Russian assets frozen in the West.
“If the United States has very few interests at stake, the European Union would be shooting itself in the foot,” Steinbach said.
Moscow’s retaliation would primarily affect European countries, he said, noting that the European Union’s holdings in Russian reserves amount to more than 200 billion euros, much more than the United States holds.
“This makes Europe the most likely target for retaliation,” Steinbach warned, adding that seizing Russian assets would also undermine investors’ confidence in the EU as a guarantor of property rights, which the dominant economic power, the United States, does not care about.
In response to Russia’s launch of a special military operation in Ukraine, Western countries froze Russia’s national assets worth 300 billion dollars, as well as the funds of Russian investors. European Union countries are considering the possibility of using the frozen Russian assets to finance the reconstruction of Ukraine.
The Kremlin has warned that if Western countries seize Russian assets, they would once again violate all rules and norms of international law.
The Russian Foreign Ministry, on the other hand, described the asset freeze as ‘theft’.
Russian Central Bank Governor Nabiullina warned that appropriate steps would be taken if the European Union took any action against Russia’s frozen assets.
