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EU agrees €3B raid on Russian assets to buy weapons for Ukraine

Late concession by Belgium paved way for deal on using profits to buy ammo for Kyiv’s war effort.

The EU approved a plan to use the profits generated by investing frozen Russian assets to buy weapons for Ukraine.

Ambassadors meeting in Brussels on Wednesday gave the go-ahead after Belgium signaled a climbdown on the way it treats tax revenue on the cash — the last major obstacle to deal.

The profits generated by investing Russia’s assets immobilized in Belgium— where a large part of the assets frozen in Europe are kept — are worth between €2.5 billion and €3 billion per year.

auzas_1337 ,

Why do I keep reading the comments on shit like this?

phoenixz ,

Do I dare to ask what you mean? Tankies?

auzas_1337 ,

Pretty much, yeah. It’s just sort of depressing seeing what people think(?) and then spend their time writing.

When it comes to Russia - Ukraine war, I think people outside of Russia’s doorstep have really weird, theorethical, warped perception of what it means and how it impacts the region.

It can probably be said about most wars, the people the closest to it are the most aware of the nuances, history and reprocussions of it, but since this is such a high profile, global system shaking war, a lot more people feel like pitching into the conversation and from what I see in the comments under articles like this, the people who decide to leave a comment either haven’t lived under authoritarian rule or haven’t lived in a post-authoritarian rule society.

I’m trying to choose my words carefully here because I don’t want to bash communism and make it seem inherently opressive, although I think there are better socialist alternatives to communism.

So what I mean is, I get bummed out when I see comments that feel completely detached from reality and I should just stop reading the comments under these threads.

phoenixz ,

Yeah, people who don’t remember what communism actually did somehow hate reading about it, except some cherry picked slogans.

resetbypeer ,

Poetic justice, taste of your own medicine

drathvedro , (edited )

It’s not their medicine. It is ouя medicine, the people’s medicine, that was robbed of us by some crooks, who put it in the hands of other crooks, who have been and continue taking our medicine from said crooks and yet they bully and humiliate us. And now what they did is they’ve put it in the hands of yet another crooks, who will bomb and murder us. But most likely they’ll put most of it back in the pockets of the previous crooks, because that’s what crooks do.

Don’t be a crook. Be like me, be the unsung hero, and commit tax fraud. Steal government property, promote black markets, and share the medicine back to the community around you.

/s but not 100% /s

Obonga ,

I wish for more money but every bit counts.

z9t377ankd ,

You can donate too

IphtashuFitz ,

Gotta start somewhere. Hopefully this opens up the floodgates.

Linkerbaan ,
@Linkerbaan@lemmy.world avatar

It’s a very dangerous game to play as this signals that investing in the Western monetary system means that your money can be used as a political weapon at any time. It takes away all the credibility of our banking system. Not just for Russia but also for China etc.

That was also the reason that until now we only froze the Russian assets and didn’t seize them. And it seems like this is only a seize of yearly profits, not of the actual assets.

TheEighthDoctor ,

Not just for Russia but also for China etc

Good, everyone should know that Europe doesn’t fuck around with Countries that commit war crimes

Linkerbaan ,
@Linkerbaan@lemmy.world avatar

Good one dude

https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/a00f9430-3b3f-49af-8106-340a608cc60e.png

APassenger ,

Give them time. They have baggage and jumping too soon could be problematic.

Good pic choice for your reply.

Linkerbaan , (edited )
@Linkerbaan@lemmy.world avatar

The major underlying issue here is that it is not about war crimes as you stated. In fact war crimes have absolutely nothing to do with this as proven with a single image.

It is about using money as a weapon.

wurzelgummidge ,

It takes away all the credibility of our banking system.

Which is a win for China and BRICS

tal ,
@tal@lemmy.today avatar

I mean, freezing, doing anything other then leaving it alone does that to some degree.

My bigger concern is that l’d rather Russia’s funds be used for reconstruction.

I think that it will be easier to get political support for weapons in grant form than for reconstruction. Ukraine’s going to need both.

Excrubulent ,
@Excrubulent@slrpnk.net avatar

Houses for people to return to and safe drinking water don’t advance strategic goals*.

*actually they do if you want stability & peace but those aren’t the real goals of geopolitics

tal ,
@tal@lemmy.today avatar

I’m not saying that governments will necessarily take issue.

I’m just saying that that has to also get past publics and their representatives in legislatures.

I’m not saying that it’s impossible to do – people have called this a “Marshall Plan 2.0”, and the original was – ultimately, though not as initially presented – both done and overwhelmingly grants. But my point is that if Russia isn’t actively-invading a country in Europe, I think that it’s gonna be harder to get the political momentum for funds than if Russia is doing so.

And we’re not talking pocket change – it’s hundreds of billions. Russia’s frozen funds are already in the hundreds-of-billions, so that’s a significant chunk of that covered already.

I’d rather have the more-difficult-to-raise-money-for things have the easier-to-get money aimed at them.

HopFlop ,

They are just using the interests that this frozen capital generates and using that (instead of continuing to pay the interests to the Russians).

pressanykeynow ,

I don’t know a thing about that but isn’t it just stealing money? And if they are already stealing money why not steal all of it?

HopFlop ,

They are not taking away any money from the existing funds. And that is the important thing IMO. Rather, they are using that large amount of money and investing it (safely) so that they generate surplus money that they use. Hiwever, they arent taking away money that is currently there.

phoenixz ,

Yeah this comment is flagrantly ignoring the fact that Russia is an agressor that is invading a country and committing genocide and threatening nuclear war.

autotldr Bot ,

This is the best summary I could come up with:

Ambassadors meeting in Brussels on Wednesday gave the go-ahead after Belgium signaled a climbdown on the way it treats tax revenue on the cash — the last major obstacle to deal.

“The money will serve to support ‘s recovery and military defence in the context of the Russian aggression,” the Belgian government, which holds the six-month rotating presidency of the EU, said in a message on X, formerly Twitter.

The initiative is separate from a wider-ranging push by the U.S. to confiscate the assets in their entirety to support Ukraine, a move that is being rejected by the biggest EU governments over fears about legal and financial-volatility repercussions.

The tax income amounted to €1.7 billion in 2024.This comes after the U.S. and several EU countries — led by Germany — heaped pressure on the Belgian government to hand over the cash to Ukraine, as POLITICO first reported.

In another last-minute concession, Belgium also reduced the fee that Euroclear will charge for handling the frozen assets to 0.3 percent — freeing up extra cash for Ukraine.

The latest text of the EU plan offered neutral countries, such as Austria, Ireland, Malta and Cyprus, the chance to opt-out from buying weapons — possibly securing their backing for the deal.

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