MOSCOW. July 16 (Interfax) - The European Union will have to answer for using the immobilized Russian sovereign funds, Russian Security Council Secretary Sergei Shoigu said.
"To minimize the risk of serious discontent among the citizens of its countries, the EU might possibly resort to using the illegally frozen, or speaking bluntly, stolen Russian sovereign funds," Shoigu said in an interview published in Kommersant.
"The EU naively believes that they might get away with expropriating the funds and that that money will remain theirs forever. However, they'll have to answer for each stolen cent one day," Shoigu said.
"The Europeans are discussing possibly converting nearly 200 billion euros kept at the Belgian-based Euroclear securities depositoryinto riskier assets with a higher yield, presuming that this method would help them avoid being accused of stealing sovereign funds. It should be noted that they have 'earned' around 7 billion euros on interest in 2024," Shoigu said.
The EU hopes this plan would help it become "a self-sufficient military force," Shoigu said. "They're obviously focused on militarizing the European area. Not only are they determined to jointly manufacture weapons, but they've also agreed to jointly buy, store, transport, and manage stocks of raw materials critically important for the defense sector," he said.