The French National Assembly has adopted a resolution calling for increased support for Ukraine and the seizure of frozen Russian assets.
According to Le Figaro, despite heated debates in the parliament, the document was approved by 288 votes.
Another 54 MPs voted against it, including representatives of the far-left France Unconquered and communists. Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally abstained from voting.
Far-left LFI and far-right RN MPs opposed the idea of seizing Russian frozen assets, which they said infringed international law. According to Liot MP Laurent Mazaury, the text’s rapporteur, “customary law” allows assets to be used if they are “properly dedicated to the issue of support for Ukraine and the reconstruction of Ukraine without making any other use of them.”
The interest generated by Russian assets is already being used to help Kyiv. But “the total seizure of the main part of these assets raises legal questions,” and “the question of the economic precedent that the confiscation could represent for foreign investors,” declared Europe Minister Benjamin Haddad in the Chamber. “It’s a lever we have in the balance of power and in negotiations with Russia”, he added, not opposing the inclusion of this measure in the text head-on and issuing an “opinion of wisdom,’ neither favorable nor unfavorable, on the amendment under discussion.
Socialist MP Thierry Sother welcomed the “progress” made “collectively” on the issue. He accused certain MPs of being “shabby patriots” who “say with their hand on their heart, yes, we support Ukraine, but as soon as it’s time to act, they’re no longer there.”.
The French parliament’s resolution is essentially symbolic, but MPs hope that it will allow them to influence the government’s line, which is currently opposed to the seizure of the mineral resources.
The resolution calls on the EU, NATO, and “other allied countries to continue and increase their political, economic, and military support to Ukraine.”
French MPs also introduced an amendment to the text calling on the EU to “build an independent European defense.”
The text of the resolution also “calls on the European Union and its member states to proceed without delay with the seizure of frozen Russian assets…to finance military support for Ukraine in its resistance and reconstruction.”.
Other topics of discussion were the issue of Russian gas imports by EU countries, which the resolution calls for “to be stopped,” as well as the presence of French soldiers on Ukrainian soil in the event of a peace agreement.
The final amended text “encourages the French government and its European partners to explore the possibility of deploying a European peacekeeping force in Ukraine.”
Earlier, Finnish President Alexander Stubb also supported the idea of the need to “use the frozen Russian assets right now.”
Recently, dozens of European Parliament MPs called on Belgium to confiscate Russian assets frozen under its jurisdiction.
