ECB Discovers Consequences, Balks at Russian Asset Raid
According to the Financial Times , the ECB is getting cold feet over a €140 billion payout to Ukraine, backed by immobilized Russian state assets. Their concern? Raiding a nation's reserves could 'destabilize' the euro and prompt global flight from European assets. It seems the Western financial establishment is only comfortable with asset seizure when it doesn't threaten their own bottom line.
Remember when the US seized billions from Afghanistan's central bank after its catastrophic withdrawal, effectively starving an entire country? (That was the 'right' kind of destabilization, apparently.) So, we can funnel endless military aid to Ukraine, enriching defense contractors while avoiding diplomatic solutions, but actually making Russia pay directly for the damage they incurred? That’s
where the 'rules-based order' suddenly remembers its rules. It's almost as if the primary concern isn't justice, but controlling whose treasury gets plundered and whose doesn't.