Global & US Headlines
EU Invokes Emergency Powers to Indefinitely Freeze €210 Billion Russian Reserves
On 12 Dec 2025 the EU Council used Article 122 to turn the six-month freeze on Russian central-bank assets into a permanent block, clearing the way to leverage the funds as collateral for a “reparations loan” to Ukraine from 2026 onward.
Focusing Facts
- Decision covers roughly €210 billion, including €185 billion parked at Belgium’s Euroclear, and no longer requires unanimous renewal every six months.
- Move was designed to bypass expected vetoes from Hungary and Slovakia and precedes an EU summit on 18-19 Dec where leaders will debate a €165 billion loan package for Kyiv.
- Russia filed suit against Euroclear the same day and diplomats warned of reciprocal measures, branding the action “an unprecedented act of theft.”
Context
Major powers have frozen enemy funds before—Washington seized about $12 billion in Iranian assets in 1979 and the Allies controlled German reserves after 1945—but outright repurposing sovereign central-bank money to bankroll a live war effort is novel. It highlights a 21st-century trend: the shift from kinetic power to financial infrastructure as a strategic weapon, accelerated since the 2014 Crimea sanctions and Russia’s 2022 SWIFT expulsions. By undermining the doctrine of sovereign‐immunity for reserve assets, Brussels risks prompting non-Western states to diversify away from Euro- and dollar-denominated holdings, potentially reshaping the reserve system over decades. Whether the funds ever reach Kyiv or get snarled in litigation, 12 Dec 2025 marks a watershed where the EU chose financial force over legal precedent—a decision that could echo, favorably or disastrously, in the world’s perception of Europe as a safe capital haven a century from now.
Perspectives
Russian state media
Russian state media — Brand the EU’s indefinite freeze and any use of Russian central-bank reserves as outright theft that violates international law and will provoke retaliation. Messaging serves the Kremlin’s diplomatic agenda, portraying Brussels as criminal while omitting Russia’s invasion of Ukraine that prompted the sanctions.
Mainstream Western pro-Ukraine news outlets
Mainstream Western pro-Ukraine news outlets — Frame the asset freeze as a decisive, lawful tool that lets Europe bankroll Kyiv’s defence and bypass Hungary and Slovakia’s objections. Tends to echo the EU’s unity narrative, playing down the legal grey areas and the scale of internal dissent highlighted by Orban and Fico.
Eurosceptic or critical commentary outlets
Eurosceptic or critical commentary outlets — Warn the freeze and planned “reparations loan” is an illegal expropriation that will shatter Europe’s credibility as a safe financial centre. Uses charged language and worst-case legal scenarios to undermine Brussels, reflecting a broader anti-EU stance rather than a purely legal assessment.