Belgium is standing firm against using frozen Russian assets to support Ukraine, as four EU countries push to resurrect the scheme.
“This is non-negotiable, the door is closed,” Theo Francken, the defence minister, told Terzaken, on Flemish TV channel VRT, on Friday night.
This week Sweden, Poland, the Netherlands and Spain called upon the European Commission to explore new ways to harness around €200 billion in immobilised Russian assets to support Ukraine.
At a dramatic European summit last December, Bart De Wever, the Belgian leader, shot down an effort led by Germany and the European Commission, to fashion a €210 billion ($243 billion) ‘reparations loan’ for Ukraine, arguing it would leave the Benelux nation exposed to Russian legal retribution.
Most of the assets are held at Euroclear in Belgium. “Our prime minister will stand firm,” Francken added.
Noting that Belgium’s resistance has generated resentment, he singled out the Baltic states – who are the strongest supporters of the reparations loan – for refusing to drop it.
“They should also be careful about constantly bringing this issue up again and putting us in a corner. I don’t think that is wise,” Francken said, pointing at the Baltics. Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia receive a lot of support from Belgium, he pointed out.
Francken’s tough tone differs somewhat from the way Maxime Prévot, the Belgian foreign minister, has talked about the scheme this month. Prévot appeared to leave the door open to using the immobilised assets, this month, on the condition that all legal responsibility is fairly shared out among EU countries.
The Swedish letter acknowledged the legal risks inherent in using the Russian assets, and stated that no country should bear a disproportionate burden.
European foreign ministers will discuss the topic at an meeting in Ireland next week.
Ukraine, in sore need of air defence, is preparing for a brutal winter and Volodymyr Zelenskyy said this week that his administration faces a €23.5 billion ($27.2 billion) funding gap.
See the original by Alice Bergoënd here.