EU countries have seized assets worth about 30 billion euros. Discussions are ongoing as to whether these funds should be directed to Ukraine.
The European Commission will make a legal proposal in two weeks to make evading sanctions a crime in the EU. The move will help member states confiscate assets frozen as part of a sanctions campaign against Russia, two sources said Wednesday Politico .
The European Commission will make this proposal in accordance with the provisions of the Treaty, which allows countries in coordination with the European Parliament, “establish minimum rules for the definition of criminal offenses and sanctions in the field of particularly serious crimes with a cross-border dimension”. The move, in turn, will provide countries with a legal basis for seizing frozen assets, officials said.
As of April, EU countries have seized assets worth about 30 billion euros, including yachts, villas and art objects belonging to sanctioned individuals and legal entities.
The possibility of confiscating these assets is being discussed. The catch is that the expropriation of assets is a matter of national law, which is different in each country. In some countries, circumventing sanctions is a criminal offense, but in others it is not. The Commission's proposal – which will require unanimity in the EU capitals, as well as the consent of a majority of MEPs – aims to harmonize this legal confusion. What to do with the assets or their income will be decided by the EU countries, officials said, adding that discussions are underway on whether to send these funds to Ukraine.
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Recall, Sunday, May 8, a meeting of 27 EU ambassadors to discuss the sixth package . The meeting ended in nothing, and negotiations are expected to resume in the coming days.
In particular, Hungary continues to block the European Union's attempts to impose an embargo on Russian oil imports, delaying the entire package of sanctions of the sixth package against Russia over the war in Ukraine. Slovakia and the Czech Republic also disagree with the terms of the oil embargo.
In addition, according to the Western press, Greece and Hungary opposed the inclusion of Patriarch Kirill in the list of sanctions. Greece and Cyprus are also against a ban on the transportation of Russian oil by European tankers.
At the same time, according to media reports, the next day the European Union decided to ease its package of sanctions on exports Russian oil .
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