After almost five years of fighting against Russia’s war of aggression, Ukraine’s financing needs are mounting. Kyiv reports that it faces a budget gap of €70 billion in 2027. However, a renewal of the €90 billion EU loan agreed last December will be a tough sell to European leaders. Meanwhile, assets from the Central Bank of the Russian Federation worth around €210 billion remain immobilized in the EU, most of them at Euroclear in Brussels. The last attempt to mobilize these assets to fund Ukraine failed due to the opposition of several member states – notably because Belgium feared that it would face the repercussions of Russian retaliation alone.
As calls to reopen the dossier on the frozen Russian assets grow, a new proposal seeks to break the deadlock that made the Commission’s original one politically untenable. At this event with policymakers and experts, we will examine this proposal, “The Russian Transfer” brought forward by Hugo Dixon, Lee Buchheit, and Daleep Singh. We will assess whether it is legally and politically feasible and what it signifies for the EU’s ability to stand together under geopolitical pressure.
Welcome:
Linn Selle, Alfred von Oppenheim Head of the Europe Center, German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP)
leksii Makeiev, Ukrainian Ambassador to Germany (tbc)
Introduction of the proposal:
Hugo Dixon, Co-author of “The Russian Transfer”
Speakers:
Hugo Dixon, Co-author of “The Russian Transfer”
Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, Chair of the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung
Brad Setser, Whitney Shepardson Senior Fellow, Council on Foreign Relations
Johannes Schraps, Member of the German Bundestag (SPD) (tbc)
This event will be held in English.
If you would like to participate, please send your request to events@dgap.org.