Belgium has ratcheted up opposition to using frozen funds for a loan scheme to finance Ukraine
Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever has warned that an EU plan to back a €140 billion loan for Ukraine with frozen Russian state assets risks wrecking the prospects for a peace deal and saddling his country with huge legal threats.
In a “strongly-worded letter” on Thursday to EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen cited by Politico, De Wever warned that the scheme – which would use the immobilized funds held at Brussels-based Euroclear as collateral for a “reparations loan” – would remove a bargaining tool from any eventual settlement with Moscow.
“Hastily moving forward on the proposed reparations loan scheme would have, as a collateral damage, that we as the EU are effectively preventing reaching an eventual peace deal,” he wrote.
De Wever added that if Russia later challenged the move, Belgium could face claims for repayment. “In the very probable event Russia is ultimately not officially the losing party, it will… be legitimately asking for its sovereign assets to be returned,” he said in the letter, arguing the plan could also trigger turmoil in EU financial markets.
Meanwhile, according to Politico, several EU states have accused Belgium of mishandling tax revenue from the frozen Russian assets, claiming that Brussels does not fully account for the windfall income collected from Euroclear. Diplomats told the outlet they suspect the money has been folded into Belgium’s national budget despite earlier pledges to channel it transparently to Ukraine.
“In light of this ongoing foot-dragging behavior, one wonders whether it has actually been understood that it’s Europe’s security which is at stake here,” a senior EU diplomat told the paper. Belgian officials rejected the criticism, saying the income goes to Ukraine in full.
Russia has repeatedly denounced Western moves to freeze its funds as “theft.” President Vladimir Putin has warned that plans to tap the funds to support Ukraine would damage the West’s credibility, adding that Moscow is preparing retaliatory measures if such plans go ahead.
