Belgium

The Belgian Prime Minister emphasized the need to do more to support Ukraine and help it achieve victory over russia.

President Zelenskyy and the leaders of Canada, Italy, Belgium and the European Commission honored the fallen Ukrainian defenders who gave their lives fighting for Ukraine's freedom and sovereignty in the face of Moscow's invasion by laying flowers on St. Michael's Square in Kyiv.

Polish President Andrzej Duda pledged further support for Ukraine in its fight for freedom against Russia on the anniversary of the Russian invasion.

During a meeting with President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy and leaders of other European countries, President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen assured of further financial and defense support for Ukraine.

President Zelenskyy expressed gratitude to the partner countries for helping Ukraine protect people, strengthen its defense and increase pressure on Russia during the two-year war.

President Zelenskyy met with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, and the prime ministers of Italy and Belgium on the second anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

On the one-year anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, President Zelenskyy visited Gostomel, where Ukrainian troops held back Russian forces in 2022, and thanked international partners for their support.

Ursula von der Leyen and Belgian Prime Minister Alexander de Crewe will visit Poland on February 23 to discuss farmers' protests, aid to Ukraine, and Poland's use of reconstruction funds.

Legal experts have approved the seizure of $300 billion worth of frozen assets from the russian central bank to compensate Ukraine for losses from the russian invasion, as allowed by international law.

Most of Ukraine's public debt consists of long-term concessional loans from international partners. According to the Ministry of Finance, 10 countries provided grant assistance to Ukraine, namely: The United States, Japan, Norway, Germany, Spain, Finland, Switzerland, Ireland, Belgium, and Iceland.

Approximately 3,200 trucks are waiting at six border crossings with Poland due to blockades by protesting local farmers.

Due to a strike by local farmers, truck traffic in both directions will be blocked at the Yagodyn-Dorogusk border crossing between Poland and Ukraine on Sunday. Farmers from Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands and France will join the large-scale protest.

Euroclear has warned that the use of frozen Russian assets as collateral for the issuance of debt to Ukraine could pose risks to European financial stability and expose Euroclear to legal action.

Google is planning to launch a campaign using animated ads on platforms such as TikTok and YouTube in five EU countries to combat disinformation ahead of the 2024 European Parliament elections.

10 countries have signed an agreement to cooperate in an IT coalition to help Ukraine build an interoperable IT infrastructure for its defense forces over the next 6 years.

British Foreign Secretary David Cameron will call on EU allies to increase defense production to help Ukraine.

Residents of Bessarabia have changed their traditional pro-Russian vector to pro-Ukrainian - The Economist explains the reasons.

Farmers in Spain have blocked major roads and port terminals with tractors and burning tires to protest against EU environmental regulations that reduce their competitiveness in the agricultural market.

By October 2024, the Czech government will request the opinion of the National Economic Council on the feasibility of joining the European Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM II) as a prerequisite for the introduction of the euro.

From now on, Ukrainians can receive their driving licenses with international delivery to five more European countries: Slovenia, Croatia, Montenegro, Belgium and Switzerland.

Spanish farmers blocked major highways with tractors to protest high prices, bureaucracy and competition from outside the EU.

Ukraine expects the EU to decide to use the proceeds of frozen Russian assets to compensate for the damage caused by the Russian invasion.

The European Parliament and the Council of the EU have agreed to establish a €50 billion Ukraine Fund over the next four years to support Ukraine's recovery, reconstruction and modernization efforts.

Belgium proposes to use the frozen Russian assets as collateral for the issuance of debt for Ukraine's reconstruction.

Last year, the cargo turnover of Odesa Region's ports more than tripled to over 32 million tons compared to pre-war levels, and the port of Izmail more than doubled to 20. 2 million tons.

Farmers in Belgium and the Netherlands are blocking border crossings to protest taxes, rising costs, cheap imports, and bureaucracy that are negatively impacting their industry.

Euroclear continues to separate the gains related to the Russian sanctions from the underlying financial results and retains these gains until further guidance is received on the allocation or management of such gains.

The Belgian prime minister expressed confidence that EU leaders will be able to reach an agreement on financial assistance to Ukraine at their summit.

Ukraine is actively developing partnerships in the defense industry, having concluded dozens of agreements on joint arms production with more than two dozen countries.

The EU plans to launch a naval mission in the Red Sea within the next three weeks to protect cargo ships from Houthi attacks in Yemen and reduce trade disruptions.