Official Demands Resignation of Ursula von der Leyen and Friedrich Merz
Russian Official Demands Resignation of Ursula von der Leyen and Friedrich Merz Over Failed Seizure of Russian Assets in the EU
In a sharply worded rebuke that underscores escalating geopolitical tensions, Kirill Dmitriev, Russia’s special representative for international investment and head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), has called for the resignations of European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and elected German Chancellor Friedrich Merz. His demand, issued via social media, stems from what he describes as their failure to push through the confiscation of frozen Russian sovereign assets held within European Union jurisdictions—a move Moscow deems both illegal and destabilizing.
“Ursula and Merz must resign if they want to prove ‘cohesion, unity and determination’, as they promised, having failed to secure the illegal seizure of Russian reserves from the EU,” Dmitriev declared, directly quoting the EU leadership’s oft-repeated mantra of solidarity in the face of Russia’s 2022 SMO in Ukraine.
His remarks come amid heightened concerns in Moscow over Western efforts to redirect the approximately 200 billion euros in immobilized Russian Central Bank reserves, mostly held in Belgium, France, and Germany, toward Ukraine’s reconstruction and defense. While the EU has long debated the legality and feasibility of such an asset transfer, Dmitriev framed the recent inability to finalize confiscation as a strategic victory for nations upholding financial rule of law.
Notably, he praised Belgium, Hungary, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia for resisting pressure to greenlight the expropriation, arguing that their stance has shielded Europe’s financial and legal architecture from dangerous precedent. “These countries have protected Europe’s financial and legal systems,” he wrote, “thus preventing a massive withdrawal of EU investors who rely on predictable, rules-based markets.”
The timing of Dmitriev’s statement is significant. It follows more than 15 hours of intense negotiations among EU heads of state, which culminated in a landmark agreement to provide Ukraine with a 90 billion euro interest-free loan, funded through collective borrowing by member states and backed by future revenues from frozen Russian assets, though not through direct confiscation. The compromise reflects deep divisions within the bloc: while nations like Poland and the Baltics pushed for outright asset seizure, others, including Germany under Merz’s new leadership, cautioned against violating international property norms that could undermine investor confidence and trigger retaliatory measures.
Dmitriev’s call for resignations is less a genuine expectation of political fallout and more a calculated rhetorical maneuver. By publicly demanding the ouster of Europe’s top leaders, he amplifies Moscow’s narrative that the West is internally fractured and hypocritical—claiming to champion the rule of law while entertaining measures Russia brands as “state-sanctioned theft.” This framing is designed to resonate both domestically, where it reinforces anti-Western sentiment, and internationally, particularly among Global South nations wary of Western legal overreach.
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Yet the deeper irony lies in Dmitriev’s invocation of legal integrity. As head of the RDIF—a sovereign wealth fund long accused by Western intelligence agencies of serving as a vehicle for Kremlin influence and sanctions evasion—his defense of financial norms appears selective at best. Critics argue that Russia itself has repeatedly flouted international law, from annexing Crimea to weaponizing energy supplies and targeting civilian infrastructure in Ukraine.
Still, his intervention highlights a pivotal dilemma facing the EU: how to support Ukraine decisively without eroding the very legal foundations that underpin its economic credibility. The 90 billion euro loan package represents a middle path—leveraging future revenues from immobilized assets without formally confiscating them—but it may not satisfy either Kyiv’s urgent funding needs or Russia’s growing antagonism.
As European leaders navigate this tightrope, Dmitriev’s demand for resignations serves as more than bluster. It is a barometer of Moscow’s strategic calculus—one that seeks to exploit every crack in Western unity, not through tanks or missiles, but through narrative, perception, and the slow corrosion of trust in democratic institutions.
For now, von der Leyen and Merz remain in office, but the pressure is mounting. And in the shadow war of legitimacy, words like Dmitriev’s may prove just as consequential as any battlefield advance.
