PREVIEW: HEADLINE: Russia: Confiscation with EU Characteristics GUEST NAME: Michael Bernstam GUEST TITLE: Hoover Institution SUMMARY: Michael Bernstam of the Hoover Institution discusses Russian asset confiscation policies that mirror EU characteristics.
The John Batchelor Show
John Batchelor
4.5 • 2.8K Ratings
🗓️ 17 September 2025
⏱️ 2 minutes
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Summary
HEADLINE: Russia: Confiscation with EU Characteristics
GUEST NAME: Michael Bernstam
GUEST TITLE: Hoover Institution
SUMMARY: Michael Bernstam of the Hoover Institution discusses Russian asset confiscation policies that mirror EUcharacteristics. The analysis examines how Russia's approach to seizing assets reflects broader European regulatory frameworks, exploring the implications for international property rights and economic sovereignty. Bernstam provides insights into the parallels between Russian and European confiscation mechanisms and their impact on global financial systems.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Building a coffee business? |
| 0:01.9 | Serving the best Americano in town is up to you. |
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| 0:25.4 | about a plan, some might call it a scheme, that the European Union, some might say it's |
| 0:32.5 | very, very clever lawyers have come up with, to transfer, acquire, confiscate the 170 billion euros, |
| 0:44.8 | that's $200 billion of Russian assets that are frozen since the beginning of the war. |
| 0:50.6 | It's very clever. It has to do with bonds, Euroclear, transfers, the future conditions. Very clever. Michael here explains much more of this tonight. Yes, confiscation. That is a word. |
| 1:06.6 | Doesn't cost anyone anything. It looks very, very clean. |
| 1:12.3 | There are bonds there. |
| 1:13.4 | The balance sheet of Euroclercler will protest, but they would say, look, you have |
| 1:18.3 | $200 billion on the balance sheet. |
| 1:21.0 | All right, it's not cash. |
| 1:22.3 | It is the bonds of the European Union. |
| 1:24.8 | European Union does not have its own budget except the money it receives |
| 1:29.2 | as remittances from these governments and it uses it up. So it wouldn't be able. European |
| 1:35.4 | Union will never be able to repay this bonds. |
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