T24 International News
Today, the Presidents of the European Union will discuss a plan to use profits amounting to billions from frozen Russian financial assets to purchase weapons for Ukraine. They will also discuss how Europe can do more to defend itself and strengthen its arms industry.
European Council President Charles Michel in the invitation letter wrote for The Hill “Europe has not invested sufficiently in its security and defense for decades.” using his words and “In these days, facing the greatest security threat since World War II, it is time to take radical and concrete steps to be defense-ready and make the EU economy ‚war-ready.’” he said.
At the two-day summit in Brussels, starting at 12.00 Turkish time on Thursday, EU heads of state and government will discuss various topics such as the war in Gaza, the possibility of starting accession talks with Bosnia, and farmer protests.
The West is concerned about the course of the Ukraine war
However, Ukraine will be at the top of the agenda, with President Volodymyr Zelensky joining the heads of state and government via video communication. In recent weeks, EU heads of state and government have become increasingly concerned about the course of the war, as the Ukrainian forces, lacking ammunition, struggle to push back Russian troops, and a $60 billion military aid package for Kyiv has stalled in the US Congress.
This week, the European Commission, the executive body of the EU, proposed taking profits from Russian assets frozen after Moscow’s invasion in Europe and transferring 90% of them to an EU-managed fund for military aid to Kyiv.
The Commission claims that profits from assets, consisting of various Russian central bank securities and cash, could amount to between 2.5 and 3 billion euros per year.
Russia referred to the EU plan in question as „banditry and theft.“
The assets were frozen by EU central securities depositories, mainly Belgium’s Euroclear. Additionally, Ukraine will receive the 25% profit tax imposed by the Belgian government.
Diplomats say that the idea of using the proceeds for the benefit of Ukraine has found broad support among EU governments. However, for some countries, using money to buy weapons is more problematic.
T24