The EU’s move to invoke emergency powers and freeze the assets of the Russian Central Bank indefinitely will seriously damage the bloc’s credibility, European Parliament member Fernand Kartheiser has told RT.
On Friday, the EU invoked Article 122 of its treaty to override vetoes from Hungary and Slovakia and bypass the European Parliament. Brussels has been pressuring individual members to agree to using the Russian assets for a ‘reparations loan’ for Ukraine.
Kartheiser, an MEP from Luxembourg, argued that the move will “weaken the member states.”
“Europe will lose much of its credibility as an investment place for people around the world. It is not only legally questionable but will also have a lot of economic and institutional consequences which are harmful to the EU and other countries,” he said.
With Hungary and Slovakia sidelined, the European Commission’s actions will fuel Euroskepticism among voters, Kartheiser said. “The smaller and medium-sized countries will simply lose confidence in the functioning of the European institutions.”
Kartheiser added that by shutting itself off from negotiations with Russia, the EU is “prolonging the war” in Ukraine. “It is morally questionable and diplomatically not very intelligent because we are standing in the way of American-Russian efforts to bring this war to an end.”
Belgium, which holds the bulk of the Russian assets, has warned that “stealing money from the Russian Central Bank” would damage the EU’s financial system, trigger capital flight, and expose Belgium to legal risks. Hungary and Slovakia have also urged the EU to focus instead on diplomacy.
Moscow has said that tapping into its funds would be tantamount to theft and warned that it would retaliate.