EU: Debt acceleration ahead!

Ghost of Truth — Wed, 05 Mar 2025 10:42:42 GMT

EU: Debt acceleration ahead!

Eyes on the debt in the eurozone! The withdrawal of the USA from the financing of the Ukraine disaster gives the eurocommies exactly the opportunity they have been waiting for a long time to create panic, stir up fear of war and communitize the sovereign debt of the European Union. For legal reasons, this has not been possible until now, but it should now be easy to get rid of it as the mainstream press once again succeeds in manipulating public opinion.

Since the lockdown policy, the eurozone economy has been in recession only surviving through massive expansion of the state sector and credit-financed artificial demand for dubious projects such as the green transformation. And the sad attempt by German politicians to declare the planned 500 billion euros in new debt for the defense budget as a so-called special fund in order to deceive the public about the state of the state's finances is nothing but a ridiculous camouflage. We know from the history of economies that countries with a government debt ratio of over 80% can no longer escape the debt trap without default! The eurozone has long since crossed this demarcation line. Under the new Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Germany, which in the past has been fiscally very conservative, at least in comparison to its European partners, is now also falling into the well visible debt trap. At least for those of us who still have one or two functioning brain cells, this debt trap cannot be overlooked. But politicians are known to be a special breed of people with the experience and learning horizon of fruit flies.

Especially in fiat economies, war has always been the scapegoat in the past to keep the debt printer running hot. It is the fatal failure of science that throughout the 20th century and to this day it has not succeeded in exposing the Keynesian delusion of the feasible global control of complex economies for what it is: a pseudo-scientific childish belief that played into the hands of socialists and central planners.

This pseudo-academic religion, this offset of crude macroeconomic theories, gives politicians precisely the tools they need to centralize political power and influence the individual economy. The media sector is also to blame for this debacle, as Keynesianism has never had to face real criticism in the public sphere. It seems to have been almost forgotten that the centralization of decision-making processes, to the exclusion of decentralized pricing, is the decisive criterion for the failure of complex systems.

The current debates of the European Union's top politicians, which revolve exclusively around the way in which debt is accelerated and no longer around the consolidation of public finances, also shows wonderfully that the players within this stabilized argumentative matrix are no longer able to change their perspective. In short: Europe is largely incapable of reform and is intellectually blocking itself!

And the market's reaction is not long in coming: interest rates on German government bonds are already rising while inflation rates in Europe are picking up speed again, which will probably soon prompt the powerful central planners at the European Central Bank to introduce some form of yield curve control so as not to abandon the ailing public finances of the eurozone countries which is likely to pose a massive threat to the already ailing euro. Against the backdrop of the severity of the fiscal crisis, all the talk about a moderate interest rate run in the eurozone is completely self-evident. Credit must be made cheaper again in the eurozone in order to prevent the collapse of the zombie economy that has been systematically bred since the days of the last financial crisis and on which many millions of jobs depend, the social foundations of the old continent the last argumentative bastion of the central planners in Brussels and the European capitals.

The Eurozone debt crisis is entering the next round, the attempt to further escalate the war in Ukraine is being morally charged by Russia's panic in the media and over half a billion Europeans are facing an economic fiasco. And we haven't even talked about what will happen if tax revenues implode and Europe's golden calf, the various social insurance schemes, collapse underfunded. At a certain point, we enter the endgame of the Fiatponzi.

#eu #europe #ukraine #russia #debtcrisis #news #geopolitics #bitcoin #nostr #grownostr #fiatponzi

Europe's Struggle For Russian Reparations…

Ghost of Truth — Sat, 01 Mar 2025 11:36:23 GMT

Europe's Struggle For Russian Reparations And Collaterals

Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky's expulsion from the White House was the bizarre highlight of an even more bizarre political week in Washington, which saw numerous visitors from the European Union as guests of Donald Trump. Alongside the Frenchman Macron and his English counterpart Starmer, Zelensky was also there once again - and the new German Chancellor Friedrich Merz is also expected to visit the White House shortly to put forward what is really at stake in the Ukraine conflict: the continued funding of the money pump! !

The withdrawal of the USA from the financing of the Ukraine project has startled them all and has made Europeans aware of their own economic and military impotence these days. The high point of this awakening was the fact that the USA is negotiating exclusively with Russia and no longer even reserves a seat at the cat's table for the Europeans when it comes to the European issue of Ukraine.

Trump has thus revealed that all the sabre-rattling by the Europeans in the Russia affair, all the sanctions packages were nothing more than the barking of a disabled dog that is no longer even able to adequately stake out its original territory.

In this context, the question of how to deal with the Russian assets frozen by the European Union, especially those of the Russian Central Bank, is raised time and again. As an economic background, it is important to know that the European Union has immense liquidity problems, especially in its banking sector and in view of the problems in the eurozone and the immense distortions in the common currency; they need new collateral in order to be able to create new credit.

And this is exactly where the Russian assets come into play. the expropriation, which I will describe in more detail below, comprises around 235 billion dollars in assets, which the European Union would very much like to use as the initial financing for so-called Eurobonds, the common financing of the European Union's immense mountain of debt, in order to buy itself a few more years and remain liquid. Similar ideas also apply to Russian reparations payments in the event of Moscow's defeat, which would above all help the Bank of England, one of the main guarantors of Ukraine's national debt, to get back on its feet.

It is precisely these kinds of mind games that keep resonating in the Europeans' attempts to escalate the Russian war. In order to achieve this goal, London in particular had firmly counted on the military intervention of the Americans, who have now done a 180 degree turnaround, leaving the Europeans naked.

To emphasize this turnaround once again, Selensky was expelled from the White House. It can therefore be assumed that the issue of Russian assets will be raised again in the coming days and weeks. Finally, let's take a look at the structure of these assets.

Overview of Frozen Assets

The EU has imposed sanctions in response to Russia’s actions, particularly following the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. These sanctions include asset freezes targeting both Russian state entities (such as the Central Bank of Russia) and private individuals or companies (e.g., oligarchs and sanctioned entities).

The frozen assets fall into two main categories:

State-owned assets, primarily reserves of the Central Bank of Russia.

Private assets, belonging to individuals and entities listed under EU sanctions.

1. Central Bank of Russia Assets

Total Value: Approximately €210 billion (around $215 billion USD, depending on exchange rates) of Russian Central Bank reserves have been immobilized in the EU as of mid-2023, with updates suggesting this figure has remained stable or slightly adjusted by 2025.

Nature of Assets: These are primarily financial reserves held in foreign currencies, securities, and other liquid instruments. Most of these assets are managed by central securities depositories (CSDs) like Euroclear in Belgium, which holds the largest share.

Location: The majority is held in Belgium, with smaller portions distributed across other EU countries such as Germany, France, and Luxembourg.

Legal Status: These assets are "immobilized" rather than confiscated, meaning they cannot be accessed or managed by Russia but remain in place pending further legal or political decisions. The EU has begun using the extraordinary profits (e.g., interest) from these assets, estimated at €2.5–3 billion annually, to support Ukraine as of May 2024.

2. Private Assets of Individuals and Entities

Total Value: As of late 2022, the EU had frozen €17.5 billion worth of assets belonging to Russian oligarchs, individuals, and companies. Earlier figures from June 2022 cited €12.5 billion, indicating a significant increase over time. Posts on X and other sources suggest that by 2025, the total value of frozen private assets may exceed €20 billion, though no official update confirms this precisely as of March 1, 2025.

Number of Targets: Over 1,350 individuals and entities are subject to asset freezes, including oligarchs, government officials, and companies linked to Russia’s war efforts.

Types of Assets:

Real Estate: Luxury properties such as villas, mansions, and apartments across EU countries, particularly in France, Italy, Spain, and Cyprus. Examples include properties owned by oligarchs like Alisher Usmanov and Mikhail Fridman.

Yachts: High-profile seizures include superyachts like the Dilbar (owned by Usmanov, seized in Germany) and the Amore Vero (linked to Igor Sechin, seized in France). These vessels are often valued in the tens or hundreds of millions of euros.

Helicopters and Private Jets: Aircraft owned by sanctioned individuals have been grounded and frozen, such as those linked to Gennady Timchenko and Alexey Mordashov.

Art and Valuables: Paintings, sculptures, and other high-value items, including collections seized from oligarchs’ residences or storage facilities.

Financial Assets: Bank accounts, investments, and shares in EU-based companies controlled by sanctioned persons. For instance, accounts tied to Petr Aven and Mikhail Fridman in Alfa Group were frozen in 2022.

Business Holdings: Stakes in EU-based firms or subsidiaries owned by Russian entities, such as those linked to Rostec or Sovcomflot, have been subjected to asset freezes.

Oligarchs’ Assets: By June 2022, €12.5 billion in private assets were reported frozen, doubling from earlier estimates in April. This included yachts, helicopters, and real estate.

Entities: Companies like Sogaz (insurance), Alfa Bank, and Russian Railways faced asset freezes, impacting their financial holdings and operational assets in the EU.

Additional Details

Windfall Profits: Since May 2024, the EU has redirected net profits from immobilized Central Bank assets (e.g., €557 million earned between February and April 2024) to Ukraine, with 90% allocated for military support and 10% for reconstruction.

Updates in 2024-2025: The 15th sanctions package (December 2024) added 54 individuals and 30 entities, further expanding the scope of frozen assets, though specific values for these additions are not yet detailed.

#geopolitics #ukraine #russia #usa #eu #uk #trump #zelenski #bitcoin #nostr #plebchain #news