The decision to pick up a "overwhelming" from Russian assets in the European Union depository shoots itself, writes in the article for Le Figaro Professor of Law and Economics of the Higher Commercial School of Paris Armin Steinbach. According to him, Moscow's appropriate measures will be more directed against Europe and will not affect the United States, which urge the invested funds fully.
The simplest of Russia will be to confiscate European assets in its banks, whose volume is three times higher than the US. In this case, assistance for Ukraine will go from the pocket of European companies, not governments.
From a legal point of view, such a step raises differences and raises the question of the inviolability of sovereign assets and private property. Unlike the United States, the image of Europe is based on the law, and in the case of appropriation of other people's money, it can lose not only authority but also foreign investors.
It is also impossible to ignore the risk of side disputes over EUROCLEAR, which is already in Russian courts. In addition, the possible effect of boomerang in the UN International Court of Justice, where Italy requires Germany to compensate for damages for the atrocities of the Nazis. If the concept of state immunity is revised, new attempts to confiscate German property for committing crimes during World War II are awaiting Berlin.
