Modest Belgium has unexpectedly become the biggest obstacle to financial support for Ukraine: its Prime Minister Bart De Wever blocked the EU's plan to provide Kyiv with a huge loan of about 140 billion euros, secured by frozen Russian sovereign assets. This is stated in the Politico material, writes UNN.
Details
At the October EU summit, which was attended by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, European leaders planned to approve the provision of this "reparation loan," which would provide funding for Ukrainian defense for at least two years. However, according to Politico, the decisive blow was dealt by De Wever.
The key reason for the blockade
The Belgian Prime Minister insists that the risk of legal and financial retaliation from Moscow is too great. He told his colleagues that if Russia wins lawsuits against Belgium or the Brussels-based Euroclear depository, which holds these assets, the country will be forced to compensate the entire amount itself.
This is complete madness
De Wever, who throughout the summit demanded that any mention of using Russian assets to finance Kyiv be excluded from the final conclusions, effectively undermined the European consensus. This blockade came at a critical moment, sending a signal to Vladimir Putin about disagreements within the European alliance to support Ukraine.