German Finance Minister Christian Lindner indicated in an interview with the German business daily Handelsblatt and three other European publications that he is open to the concept of taking Russian state assets to fund Ukraine’s reconstruction.
‘I am politically open to the concept of confiscating Russian Central Bank overseas assets,’ Lindner said, adding that such measures were already being considered among the Group of Seven economic countries and the European Union.
‘We have to see what is legally possible in the situation of private assets,’ Lindner continued. ‘We must uphold the rule of law, even when dealing with Russian oligarchs.’
Lindner said that he could be willing to compromise on how the European Union’s debt laws are handled in the future.
Although he could not support a reform that softened the Maastricht criteria, which serve as the foundation of EU fiscal laws, he stated that ‘fiscal rules should be more practical and effective.’
‘The goal is for all economies to thrive while maintaining stable public finances. I propose combining a more credible long-term debt-reduction strategy with more flexible medium-term targets,’ he continued.
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