German Chancellor Friedrich Merz canceled his trip to Oslo and will arrive in Brussels on Friday for a private dinner to persuade the Belgian leadership to support a €165 billion "reparations loan" to Ukraine, using the monetary value of frozen Russian state assets located on Belgian soil, Politico reports, writes UNN.
Details
"Chancellor Friedrich Merz will travel to Belgium tomorrow evening for dinner to speak privately with Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen," a German government spokesman told the publication.
Merz canceled his plans to travel to Oslo to make the trip to the EU capital after the European Commission proposed a financial package to fund Ukraine's defense against Russian forces. Time is of the essence, the publication notes.
De Wever continues to oppose the initiative, as the lion's share of the assets are managed by the Brussels-based financial depository Euroclear. He fears that Russia will retaliate against Belgium both at home and abroad, and demands ironclad financial guarantees from EU capitals before he will even consider supporting the European Commission's proposal.
EU leaders are expected to discuss the initiative in Brussels on December 18. Failure to reach an agreement could force EU governments to use taxpayer money to secure funding for Ukraine.
Despite this, De Wever will have to be convinced, something von der Leyen knows well after her own persuasive talks with the Belgian leader, which failed to convince him.
De Wever not only wants substantial guarantees that can be paid out at any time, but also demands that other financial institutions holding Russian state assets across the bloc meet the same standards as Euroclear.
The Belgians also fear that an army of Kremlin lawyers will sue the government and Euroclear based on the bilateral investment treaty the country signed with the Soviet Union in 1989. Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has repeatedly threatened this.
The European Commission has repeatedly downplayed Belgium's alleged legal risks, but it will need De Wever's support before proceeding with the plan. Diplomats have already begun studying the European Commission's legal text to reassure the Belgians before December 18. Merz also seeks to contribute.
"I fully understand that the Belgian government in particular, in whose country a significant part of the frozen assets are located, cannot rely solely on political commitments," the German leader wrote in an article for the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung after the European Commission proposed the legal text underlying the reparations loan.
"These discussions must begin immediately and conclude quickly," he added.