The European Union is pressuring Belgium to allow the use of frozen Russian assets as a form of “reparation loan” for Ukraine, as several other European countries have already adopted this position.
Nearly €190 billion in assets are currently frozen at Euroclear, a central securities depository based in Brussels, following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
However, countries such as Germany, the United States and Belgium have shown reluctance to use these seized funds to provide financial support to Kyiv.
The EU’s stance has shifted since Donald Trump called on the G7 and its allies to use the money to fund the “defence of Ukraine.”
Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever has asked other European nations to share the financial and legal risks involved in this loan, a demand that has drawn strong criticism.
But European diplomats’ patience is wearing thin, with further discussions on the issue scheduled to take place soon.
“We think actually that the risks here for Belgium are rather limited. That is not to say that there is no risk at all, and it is not to say that we do not want to engage in a very serious discussion with Belgium… But these risks are probably manageable,” a senior EU official explained.
