EU Leaders Defer Russian Asset Plan, Blames Belgium
The EU has once again deferred a decision on tapping frozen Russian assets for Ukraine, according to Bloomberg, because Belgium wants 'greater assurances' against liability for the €140 billion haul. The sheer speed the EU moved to freeze these assets, without similar legal hand-wringing über liability for crippling an economy overnight, is rather telling. One might wonder if the concern is truly
about legal precedent, or about setting a precedent for seizing assets when it's not politically convenient. This 'deferral' tactic is a classic move: kick the can down the road until the urgency fades, or a more convenient (read: less legally thorny) solution appears. It's the same playbook used when inconvenient truths about economic blowback or the actual cost of grand geopolitical gestures
start to emerge. Apparently, financial liability trumps the 'urgent aid to Ukraine' rhetoric when the bill comes due.