EU 'Mugs' Citizens After Fearing Legal Precedent from Russia
The RT report notes the EU's reluctance to seize frozen Russian central bank assets, fearing a legal precedent that could jeopardize the euro's standing as a reserve currency. Suddenly, international law and financial stability matter when the target isn't a state whose assets Western powers regularly invade. But when it came to, say, Libya's $30 billion frozen by the U.S. in 2011, those legal
niceties evaporated—much of it disappeared into a 'stabilization fund.' (Source: The Guardian, 2018, 'Where did Gaddafi's billions go?') Instead of direct seizure, the EU plans to use windfall profits from these assets, then issue new debt or tap taxpayers for the difference. It seems the 'rules-based international order' is flexible, depending on whose ox is being gored, or whose money is being
'protected' from its rightful owners. One might wonder if the concern for legal precedent truly stems from a respect for international law, or simply the fear that such a bold move might one day be applied to European assets parked in Washington or London.