Russia calls the globalist bluff:
Russian courts could get the
green light to seize foreign assets on Russian territory under a draft
law intended as a response to Western sanctions over the Ukraine crisis. The draft, which was submitted to parliament on Wednesday
by a pro-Kremlin deputy, would also allow state compensation for an
individual whose property is seized in foreign jurisdictions.Italian authorities this week seized property worth about
30 million euros ($40 million) belonging to companies controlled by
Arkady Rotenberg, an ally of President Vladimir Putin targeted by the
U.S. and European Union sanctions.The draft law, published on a parliamentary database,
would allow for compensation for Russian citizens who suffer because of
an “unlawful court act” in a foreign jurisdiction and clear the way to
foreign state assets in Russia being seized, even if they are subject to
international immunity.
Asset-stripping sanctions aren’t going to be very effective if the Russians simply compensate those whose assets are stripped by taking them from Western companies with Russian assets. This could have some interesting knock-on effects in the NBA.
And isn’t it remarkable how the sanctity of free trade is so readily disrupted when something is at stake besides the livelihoods and standards of living of the working and middle classes?