Belgian PM confident that the EU will not revive the debate on Russian assets for Ukraine
Kyiv • UNN
The Belgian Prime Minister expects the European Commission not to propose using Russian assets for Ukraine. The EU has agreed on €90 billion in loans.
Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever said he was confident that the European Commission would not reopen discussions on using frozen Russian assets held by Euroclear to help finance Ukraine. UNN reports this, citing The Brussels Times.
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De Wever said he was convinced that the European Commission would not propose any new operation involving Russian assets to cover Ukraine's financial needs. "I am confident of this because it was also said," he said on Wednesday, October 21, in the Belgian parliament during a meeting of the Federal Advisory Committee on European Affairs, reporting on last week's European summit.
Last year, De Wever strongly opposed using approximately €185 billion in frozen Russian assets held by Brussels-based Euroclear to support Ukraine.
Instead, EU leaders agreed on a €90 billion loan package for this year and next year. However, this amount is expected to be insufficient to support the country.
At last week's summit, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy requested an additional €70 billion to support the country next year.
De Wever said he could not rule out attempts by other member states to revive the discussion on Russian assets. He criticized his Dutch counterpart Rob Jetten for saying during a broadcast that he wanted to "take this money".
He said that some new European leaders had not participated in last year's debates and were now putting forward arguments that he had previously managed to stop at an early stage.
The Belgian prime minister said he had warned his European colleagues that "even such wording" could have legal consequences. According to De Wever, the intervention had an impact.
"One colleague told me in the corridor that it was as if I had gone through these debates with a flamethrower," he said, adding that there was no longer strong enthusiasm at the negotiating table for continuing the discussion of this issue.