Serbia, Slovakia Join Sudden Eastern European Gold Repatriation Push
ZeroHedge.com
The gold rush continues…
Just a few short days after Poland’s government touted its economic might after completing the repatriation of 100 tons of the barbarous relic; and with Hungary‘s anti-immigrant Prime Minister Viktor Orban also ramping up holdings of the safe-haven asset to boost the security of his reserves, more Eastern European nationalist leaders are demanding their country’s gold back on home soil.
As Bloomberg reports, former Slovak Premier Robert Fico, whose odds of returning to power are rising quickly, urged parliament to compel the central bank into repatriating the nation’s gold stocks, which are currently stored in the U.K..
His reason?
Perhaps most vocally reflecting what many other nations also believe – sometimes your international partners can betray you.
Citing a 1938 pact by France, Britain, Italy and Germany allowing Adolf Hitler to annex a chunk what was then Czechoslovakia, Fico told reporters:
“You can hardly trust even the closest allies after the Munich Agreement.
I guarantee that if something happens, we won’t see a single gram of this gold. Let’s do it as quickly as possible.”
Additionally, Serbia’s strongman leader Aleksandar Vucic took note, ordering the central bank to boost reserves and prompting the purchase of nine tons in October.
Vucic said last week that more should be bought because “we see in which direction the crisis in the world is moving.”
The various leaders have a recent example to prove their fears right as the Bank of England refused to return Venezuela’s gold stock over political differences.
“Gold is a symbol,” said Vuk Vukovic, a political economist in Zagreb.
“When states purchase it, people everywhere see it as a sign of economic sovereignty.”
The gold rush mirrors steps by Russia and China to diversify reserves exceeding $3 trillion away from the dollar amid flaring geopolitical tensions with the U.S.
Source: Bloomberg