European Commissioner for Justice, Didier Reynders, says that in Portugal it was possible to freeze 25 million euros of Russian assets.
The European Commissioner for Justice, Didier Reynders, considered, in an interview, that the attribution of “gold” visas and Portuguese nationality to Russians are issues that Portugal has to solve, although he recognizes that the “problem is complex” due to the “great sensitivity” around the subject.
“I know there are some reasons in the past for this kind of acc
ess to nationality, but we have seen so many problems with some Russian people, and some who are on the sanctions list, that we are trying to stop it,” he said, in a reference to the Nationality Law, which grants naturalization to descendants of Sephardic Jews who were ordered expelled from Portugal in the late 15th century. “We will continue to discuss the possibility of stopping the process on nationality and ‘gold’ visas. And that’s how we are now, discussing the process.”
Nevertheless, the European commissioner signaled that, with Portugal’s support, the list of war crimes was extended to include violation of sanctions, making it “possible to go to court to confiscate assets, and then to transfer them to Ukraine.” “In Portugal, it was possible to freeze 25 million euros,” he said.
