Belgian PM on Russian assets before EU summit: if risks are shared, "we'll jump off this cliff and hope the parachute holds"
Kyiv • UNN
Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever stated that the texts on frozen Russian assets for the EU summit are still being worked on. Belgium does not support the idea of a reparations loan, but is ready for it if the risks are shared and the country is protected.
Texts on frozen Russian assets for consideration at the EU summit are still in the works, said Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever, adding that Belgium does not like the idea of a reparations loan, but if the risks are shared and Belgium is protected, "then we will all jump off this cliff together with all Europeans and hope that the parachute holds us," writes UNN with reference to Politico.
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The texts that EU leaders are about to discuss "are still changing," Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever told Belgian MPs ahead of the European summit.
At the European Council meeting, plans to use hundreds of billions of euros of Russian assets frozen at the Belgian company Euroclear to finance Ukraine will be the main item on the agenda. De Wever has been strongly rejecting this for weeks.
"Frankly, I cannot say for sure" what exactly will be discussed, De Wever told Belgian lawmakers.
Bart De Wever's objections to the frozen assets plan remain relevant, the publication points out. As before, the Belgian Prime Minister called the unpredictable profits from frozen assets a golden goose to support Ukraine.
"Today the plan is to serve this chicken, to eat it," he told MPs.
De Wever is concerned that this idea is "dubious from the point of view of international law" and could undermine confidence in financial markets and Euroclear's authority.
Nevertheless, he also stressed that "Ukraine deserves our full support against Russian aggression, and that supporting Ukraine is... perhaps the best investment in our own security."
At the same time, there is a clear bloc of countries that support a reparations loan, including Germany, Poland, and the Baltic and Northern European countries, Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever told MPs.
There are geopolitical motives here, he added: "The closer you live to Russia, and the more you remember what communism really means when you have to endure it, the more motivated you are to do it... This is also quite understandable, it's not a criticism."
So, these countries form "a large and powerful bloc, and the European Commission is also leaning towards this," De Wever said.
"So today's task will be to see: what will Europe say?" he noted.
If Europe wants to proceed with the reparations plan, it needs to fully share the risks, implement liquidity guarantees, "and then you have to jump with me. You have to give me this parachute and jump with me," Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever told Belgian MPs.
To date, I have not seen any text that meets these conditions
The Belgian Prime Minister also said that he would carefully review the latest text between 9:00 and 10:00 AM local time, just before meeting with his European counterparts, adding that he was not sure there would be a text to read.
At the same time, De Wever said that today's decision requires unanimous support. It would be "extremely creative" for the EU to argue that a reparations loan could be agreed by a qualified majority vote, as they would only be fulfilling a prior commitment to support Ukraine.
"This is what is legally called a stretch," De Wever said, noting that a shaky legal basis, annulled by the European Supreme Court, could lead to "a whole host of problems."
He also noted that a reparations loan would be the only option on the table, even if Belgium did not block it, adding: "Frankly, I resent the European authorities for this."
But even though Belgium does not like the idea of a reparations loan, if the risks are shared and Belgium is protected, "then we will all jump off this cliff together with all Europeans and hope that the parachute holds us," Bart De Wever told MPs a few minutes before leaving for the European summit.
We will do this because the alternative - no solution, no funding for Ukraine, the collapse of the country - is Europe's ultimate geopolitical failure, which we will feel for decades to come. From then on, we will no longer play any role in the world
Other political forces would be happy if "Europe was completely torn apart" and left "in complete chaos with no solution for Ukraine and with knives drawn," De Wever added, pointing out: "That would be catastrophic."