The idea to seize nearly 200 billion euros of Russian bank assets held in the European depository Euroclear was publicly supported by a member of the Governing Council of the European Central Bank - the President of the Bank of Latvia, Martins Kazaks, reports Politico, writes UNN.
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European politicians, facing a severe cash shortage and already burdened by debt, are now contemplating whether to seize around 200 billion euros from the reserves of the Russian central bank, which are currently frozen in Belgium and used as collateral for a 50 billion euro loan from G7 countries to Ukraine.
The ECB, based in Frankfurt, traditionally warns against any more aggressive actions, stating that this could harm the euro's position in global financial markets.
"But on Friday, Martins Kazaks, the Governor of the Bank of Latvia, was the first member of the ECB Governing Council to endorse the move towards outright seizure," Politico reported, stating that this is a "viable option to assist Ukraine in its struggle for freedom and against aggression."
The comments, evidently from a country on the front line of Europe with Russia, as the publication writes, "acknowledge that more radical actions are necessary, even at the cost of sending another shock to global markets." They, as noted, "hint that the rapidly changing reality on the ground may lead to a new consensus in Frankfurt."
"Besides Kazaks, officials from other Baltic central banks also privately support outright seizure, even if their official position differs," said one person familiar with the matter. Neither the central banks of Estonia nor Lithuania responded to a request for comment.