Belgium has declared it impossible to seize Russian assets

Belgian Prime Minister Bart de Wever said on January 22 that it was impossible to simply confiscate Russian assets, calling such actions an "act of war."

"We are not at war with Russia. Europe is not at war with Russia. You can't just confiscate money. This is an act of war. Don't underestimate this. This has never happened: immobilized money has never been confiscated, even during World War II," de Wever said on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland.

According to him, the seizure of Russian assets would have "serious consequences for Europe, for the credibility of the eurozone financial system."

"There is no free money. Everything that seems simple is actually very difficult <...> If assets are confiscated and spent, then at some point they will have to be reimbursed, and then a big problem will arise," the Belgian prime minister said.

Doom money: Russians massively challenge Belgium's refusals to unlock assets

What are the chances of investors to unfreeze funds in Euroclear

The Arbitration Court began considering the claim of the Central Bank against the Belgian depository Euroclear for 18.2 trillion rubles on January 16. In December last year, the chairman of the Bank of Russia, Elvira Nabiullina, stated that the regulator was considering the possibility of protecting its interests in international courts and arbitrations with subsequent enforcement of their acts in other countries.

Euroclear responded by declaring its readiness to defend itself in Russian courts on claims due to the blocking of Russian assets. The official representative of the European Commission, Paula Pinho, added that the European Union is confident in the legality of the use of frozen assets of Russia.

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