The international press has not been kind to Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever, who is accused of thwarting a European project to use Russian funds frozen in Belgian Euroclear to guarantee a so-called reparations loan to Ukraine worth 140 billion euros. But Bart De Wever is adamant: "Having a solid legal basis is not a luxury," writes the Belgian newspaper Le Soir in an article about the risks of using Russian assets for Belgium, reports UNN.
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According to De Wever, guaranteeing a loan to Ukraine based on immobilized Russian assets still poses too many risks for Belgium.
"When the Belgian Prime Minister asked at the European Council table who was willing to commit, 'the question was not met with a tsunami of enthusiasm,'" the publication says.
As the publication notes, in the European Union, where many states are trying to cover their deficits, the idea of taking responsibility for their national budgets may deter some.
As the publication writes, "for Belgium, this issue is also budgetary."
"The interest received by Euroclear from Russian assets is not paid to Russia and is not retained by the company (except for a reserve for legal risk). These excess profits go into an unforeseen contribution paid to the European Union for Ukraine, as well as into the treasury of the Belgian state, as they are subject to corporate income tax in our country. Belgium plans to use these revenues to partially finance an increase in military spending from 2025 to 2029 – up to 1.2 billion annually," writes the Belgian publication.