The EU court rejected Hungary's complaint regarding Russian assets and Roman Abramovich's complaint

The case concerns the income generated by the assets of Russia's central bank frozen in the EU. After the Russian invasion of Ukraine, EU countries froze a significant portion of them and then decided to use the profits generated by these assets for the benefit of Ukraine. Hungary filed a complaint to the CJEU in this case.

What argumentation did the court adopt?

In today's judgment, the General Court of the European Union, which is part of the CJEU, found that, in principle, it has no jurisdiction in relation to the provisions regarding the so-called the EU's Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP), nor to acts adopted on the basis of those provisions.

The court also found that the present case did not fall within any of the exceptions provided for in the Treaties that allow the CJEU to intervene in this area.

In the judgment, he also assessed that the contested decision "involved making political or strategic choices within the framework of the CFSP, because it determined the allocation and detailed distribution of financial resources for financing the acquisition of military equipment intended for the Armed Forces of Ukraine."

Ban on transferring funds back to Russia

Since the immobilization, Russian assets have generated a total of approximately EUR 8 billion in profits. In December 2025, member states also decided to permanently ban the transfer of frozen assets of the Russian central bank back to Russia. The decision was based on Art. 122 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, which allows for the adoption of extraordinary measures in crisis situations.

At the end of August, the foreign ministers of Poland, Spain, the Netherlands and Sweden appealed to the European Union to return to the issue of using only frozen Russian assets to further support Ukraine.

A decision was also made in the Abramowicz case

Today, the General Court of the European Union also made another important decision related to Russian aggression against Ukraine. The complaint of Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich regarding the extension of EU sanctions imposed on him in connection with the war was dismissed.

Following Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, which began on February 24, 2022, the EU imposed sanctions on Abramovich, including: freezing his assets and banning him from entering and passing through the EU. Abramowicz, who has Russian, Israeli and Portuguese citizenship, is, among others, the main shareholder of Yevraz (Evraz), one of the largest groups operating in Russia in the metallurgy and coal mining sectors. It also has shares in Norilski Nickel, one of the world's leading producers of palladium and a significant producer of nickel.

The court found that the sanctions were consistent with EU law, including the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union.