Nationalization of foreign companies: Europe must finally react harshly

Just a few days after the massively falsified “election” to the Duma, the Russian “parliament,” ruler Vladimir Putin is tightening the screws: the defense budget is being increased to the highest level since the collapse of the Soviet Union. The ability to bypass Internet blocks through VPN tunnels is drastically limited. The number of those called up for the war against Ukraine is being massively increased. Spending on education, social services and health will be cut by more than a third compared to 2021 - the year before Russia's full invasion of Ukraine. All tax benefits will be removed for self-employed people. And now a wave of nationalizations of foreign companies is sweeping Russia. These are "companies that have connections to unfriendly countries. Such decisions are being made in view of the increasing participation of these unfriendly countries in direct hostilities against our country," said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, justifying the withdrawal of the property rights of foreign retail chains such as Metro, Auchan, Leroy Merlin.

Now the companies that have deliberately stayed in Russia are also affected and not like the more than 560 companies that have sold their branches and factories or transferred them to local management since 2022. Even the “Russian understanders” who stuck by Moscow despite the war of aggression are now being hit. The aim of the attack: to use these companies to put pressure on European governments to end support for Ukraine and sanctions against Russia.

A nice side effect: As numerous examples from the past few months show, foreign companies placed under Russian state administration end up in the hands of loyalists of the Kremlin boss “for kopecks,” as dumping prices are called in Russian.

This Russian policy must now finally lead to the EU ending the reluctance it still has towards Moscow in some areas. The EU must now finally expropriate the Russian central bank's deposits that have been frozen at the payment processor Euroclear in Brussels and elsewhere in Europe. Because the Kremlin does not adhere to any rules to protect private property. And the hundreds of billions of euros arrested in Europe are actually Russian state funds. Money from a criminal state that has invaded its neighboring country, puts opposition members in prison and lets them die there, and covers Europe every day with a hybrid war. The time for oversleeves and restraint is over. This means that Russia can no longer be impressed or deterred from escalation. This has been proven long enough now. It is time for decisive action such as confiscating Russian assets in Europe and blocking the shadow fleet that Russia uses to export oil and liquefied natural gas for its war chest.