Seizing Russian central bank assets immobilised in the 27-nation EU over the Ukraine war risks inflicting major damage on Europe's economy, Belgian Foreign Minister Maxime Prevot told AFP Friday.

The EU froze some 200 billion euros of Russian central bank assets after the 2022 invasion of Ukraine, the vast majority of which are held by the international deposit organisation Euroclear in Belgium.

"For Belgium, confiscating Russian sovereign assets is not an option," Prevot said in an interview at his Brussels office.

"Such a confiscation, motivated by a political decision rather than a legal or judicial one, would be likely to cause a terrible systemic shock across all European financial markets, deal a severe blow to the credibility of the euro, and thus have very problematic domino eff

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