Ukraine will fund the bulk of its post-war recovery with wealth that Western powers are confiscating from Russia’s oligarchs, according to its prime minister. But for some of Kyiv’s allies — such as Switzerland — that’s easier said than done.
“The right of ownership, the right of property is a fundamental right,” Switzerland’s president, Ignazio Cassis, said during a press conference Tuesday alongside Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal after two days of high-level talks about Ukraine’s reconstruction in the Swiss city of Lugano. “Of course, we can violate fundamental law. But we have to create the legal base.”
Cassis’ comments reflect a wider reluctance among some major economies to seize and sell the assets of Russian oligarchs without delay to rebuild a war-torn Ukraine once Moscow ends its invasion. Moreover, the EU has had a checkered past of enforcing and defending its financial penalties against business executives, world leaders and corporations in court. Läs artikel