Belgium’s Foreign Minister Maxime Prevot said Wednesday EU plans to use Russian assets to fund a loan for Ukraine do not satisfy his country’s objections, as the bloc’s executive readied to lay out the legal details.
“Our concerns are being downplayed. The texts the (European) Commission will table today do not address our concerns in a satisfactory manner,” Prevot told journalists at a NATO meeting.
“We demand that the risks Belgium is facing as a result of this scheme are fully covered.”
The EU has proposed using immobilized central bank assets, the vast majority of which are held in Belgium, to fund a new 140-billion-euro loan for Kyiv.
Commission president Ursula von der Leyen is expected to set out the legal framework for the plan later on Wednesday.
EU officials insist the initiative is vital to keep Ukraine afloat as it battles against Russia’s invasion, and want the bloc’s leaders to agree to it at a summit this month.
But Belgium fears the plan would leave it facing potentially crippling legal and financial retribution from Russia.
The Belgian government has insisted it wants solid guarantees from other EU countries that they will share the liability.
“We have repeatedly said that we consider the option of the reparations loan the worst of all, as it is risky, it has never been done before,” Prevot said.
“This explains why we keep on pleading for an alternative, namely the EU borrowing the amounts needed on the markets.”
Despite the outspoken opposition, Prevot insisted that Belgium’s “door has always remained open and still is” to find a solution.
“We are simply seeking to avoid potentially disastrous consequences for a member state that is being asked to show solidarity without being offered the same solidarity in return,” he said.
Most other EU states back the plan and insist that a solution can be reached.
“We support this and, of course, take Belgium’s concerns seriously,” German foreign minister Johann Wadephul said.
“They are justified, but the issue is solvable. Solvable if we stand together and are willing to take responsibility.”