Guest post by Drieu Godefridi
A Catastrophic Mistake That Will Blow Up Europe — and Send the Shockwave Straight to America
The United States has every reason to slam the brakes on the European Union’s dangerous fantasy of permanently confiscating Russian sovereign assets — the hundreds of billions belonging to the Russian Central Bank and frozen since 2022, including the €200 billion parked in Belgium through Euroclear.
This scheme, pushed by Brussels bureaucrats and a handful of panicked governments, is not only illegal and suicidal for Europe — it also threatens America’s financial security, strategic stability, and global position.
If Washington lets this madness happen, it will regret it for decades. Here’s why the answer must be a loud, unambiguous NO.
1. It’s a blatant violation of international law — and the U.S. would be dragged into the crime
The UN Convention on Jurisdictional Immunities of States (2004) — reflecting decades of customary law — gives near-absolute protection to central bank reserves (Article 21). Even FDR, in the fury following Pearl Harbor, refused to cross that line with Japan.
Now the EU wants to blow up that rule.
And if the U.S. allows it, Washington sets the precedent of a lifetime: “If we don’t like you, your reserves aren’t safe.”
Guess who’s watching?
China, Saudi Arabia, India, the Gulf monarchies — all countries holding massive U.S. Treasuries.
They will remember.
2. Europe would face financial collapse — and America would be forced to bail it out
If Brussels dares to confiscate these assets, Russia will sue in every court possible — arbitration tribunals, U.S. courts, British courts — and it will almost certainly win. And after the war, Moscow will demand full reimbursement — plus interest, penalties, and damages.
Take Belgium alone:
€200 billion — over 33% of its GDP.
That’s not a fine. That’s national bankruptcy overnight.
And once a NATO and eurozone member collapses financially, guess who gets dragged into the abyss?
European taxpayers
The United States, via the IMF, emergency bailouts, and the cascade effect on the eurozone
The global system that depends on European financial stability
This is not just a European disaster.
It becomes our disaster — and Brussels wants us to co-sign it.
3. This could trigger the biggest global financial meltdown in modern history — and accelerate the decline of the dollar
The entire world economy is built on one principle: Central bank reserves abroad are untouchable — even in wartime.
Break that rule, and the message to the planet becomes crystal clear:
“Your dollars and euros can be seized tomorrow if you vote the wrong way or annoy the West.”
The predictable, immediate consequences:
• Massive, urgent withdrawal of reserves from BRICS, the Gulf, and Asia
• Collapsing demand for the euro — and yes, possibly the dollar
• Rising borrowing costs for the U.S. Treasury
• Shockwaves through every American company relying on stable dollar markets
Europe would go down first — the euro is structurally much weaker — but the U.S. would be dragged into the storm.
This is the financial equivalent of playing with nuclear weapons.
4. The greatest geopolitical gift imaginable to Russia and China
Confiscating these assets would be seen in Moscow as an act of total economic warfare. Any peace negotiations would become impossible until the money is returned. Putin would claim he has nothing left to lose — and could justify any escalation.
Meanwhile, Beijing would get exactly what it dreams of: proof that the West steals money from countries that resist it.
This single action would supercharge global de-dollarization — a strategic victory China could never achieve on its own.
And to make matters worse, it would fracture the Western alliance by angering leaders who still have a sense of reality — Hungary, Slovakia, and now Belgium’s Bart De Wever.
5. Europe cannot survive without the U.S. — so why let it commit suicide?
Europe today has:
• no credible army
• no financial strength
• no cheap energy
• and no strategic autonomy
Without the American shield, the continent is once again vulnerable. Letting Brussels plunge itself into legal and financial self-destruction would be like watching an ally jump off a cliff and pretending it’s a good idea.
There are legal, safe, and effective ways to support Ukraine:
• Issuing collectively guaranteed European bonds
• Increasing national contributions proportionally to GDP
The United States must publicly and firmly veto any confiscation of Russian sovereign assets — not out of sympathy for Russia, but because letting Europe commit this level of self-harm would drag the entire financial system into the abyss.
Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever has shown rare courage by saying no. Washington should support him.
Drieu Godefridi is a jurist (University Saint-Louis, University of Louvain), philosopher (University Saint-Louis, University of Louvain) and PhD in legal theory (Paris IV-Sorbonne). He is an entrepreneur, CEO of a European private education group and director of PAN Medias Group. He is the author of The Green Reich (2020).
You can follow Drieu on X.
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