In Germany, there is concern that calls for further reparations may be renewed.
Germany is categorically against efforts to recoup part of the nearly $300 billion The Kremlin's frozen assets.
about this write down The Wall Street Journal.
According to the publication, Germany fears that this will set a precedent and trigger new prosecutions against them for World War II crimes.
“Germany fears that confiscating rather than freezing these funds could set a precedent and trigger new prosecutions against them for World War II crimes.”– Release notes.
What is Germany afraid of?
Since 1952, Germany has provided more than $90 billion to Holocaust survivors and their families, according to Jewish organizations.
At the same time, there have been recent calls for more compensation. In particular, Poland has demanded $1.3 trillion in reparations from Berlin since 2022, while Greece has demanded more than $300 billion since 2019.
Meanwhile, some Italian courts tried to confiscate German state assets.
“Berlin says that international law prevents private individuals from being sued in foreign courts and that state assets are protected from seizure. But Berlin officials say that violating that principle in Russia's case would undermine Germany's long-standing legal position.“, – writes WSJ.
Germany argues that Russia's assets should be left intact so they can be used as leverage in any negotiations to end the war and induce Russia to cede some of the Ukrainian territory it occupies.
Slavomir Tebski, head of the analysis center Bisam Another reason Berlin refused to seize Russian assets was to protect German companies still operating there from reprisals.
At the same time, Bart Shevczyk, a lawyer at US law firm Covington, believes Berlin's fears about setting a precedent for compensation lawsuits are unfounded.
“The logic of countermeasures clearly applies only to current and ongoing violations of international law, not to those that occurred 80 years ago.” – he said.
We previously wrote that the US may refuse to forfeit Frozen Russian assets In favor of Ukraine, if the G7 countries and the European Union do not support this proposal.
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