European governments accuse Belgium of excessive demands for protection in the form of a "blank check" in case the Kremlin sues over the use of 140 billion euros of frozen Russian assets held in Brussels, Politico reports, writes UNN.
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The reluctance of the bloc's governments could reportedly derail negotiations on the EU's plan to provide these frozen assets to Ukraine before the December summit.
The European Commission is on the verge of unveiling a legal framework for the loan in a race against time to ensure that Ukraine's military budget does not run dry in April, the publication writes. EU leaders will express their views at a meeting in mid-December.
"We are advancing our work to meet Ukraine's financial needs," European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen wrote on X on Monday. "We have made significant progress and plan to present our legal proposals this week."
The so-called "reparations loan" is highly controversial with the Belgian government, as it involves using the monetary value of frozen Russian state assets on Belgian soil to finance Ukraine.
Due to fears of Russian retaliation, Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever insists that EU governments provide Belgium with financial guarantees exceeding 140 billion euros, which can be paid out within a few days. He also wants these guarantees to extend beyond the duration of EU sanctions against Russia.
While European governments are willing to guarantee a pre-agreed amount, they are reluctant to agree to what they call a "blank check." Four EU diplomats told the publication that they cannot accept De Wever's request because it would put their country's financial viability at the mercy of a court decision, potentially exposing them to having to pay billions of euros years after the end of the war in Ukraine.
"If [the guarantees] are infinite and boundless, then what are we getting ourselves into?" an EU diplomat said. The question of how comprehensive national guarantees should be is proving to be one of the most difficult in the negotiations, the publication writes.
For many member states, it is politically difficult to give this blank check
However, they warn that these safeguards are unlikely to ever be used, as the EU scheme is legally sound.
To ensure political support, the European Commission showed some EU ambassadors sections of its legal proposal, but the specific amount of guarantees remained blank.
If there is no progress, the most likely alternative is to issue more EU debt to cover Ukraine's budget deficit. But this idea is unpopular among most EU governments, as it involves using taxpayers' money
Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a meeting of EU defense ministers on Tuesday, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas expressed understanding for Belgium's predicament but offered no way forward.
"I don't diminish the concerns that Belgium has, but we can address these concerns, take them on board and work towards a viable solution," she said.