Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever has doubled down on his opposition to the European Union’s proposal to tap immobilised Russian assets and issue a so-called reparations loan to Ukraine, calling the plan “fundamentally wrong.”
In a letter addressed to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, De Wever wrote:
Instead of using the Russian assets, the EU should jointly borrow €45 billion on the markets to cover Kyiv’s financial and military needs for next year.
The PM further argues that the unprecedented reparations loan risks undermining the White House’s efforts to broker a peace deal between Ukraine and Russia—a stance that puts him at odds with other EU leaders who consider the frozen assets the bloc’s strongest leverage.
The bulk of the Russian funds, roughly €185 billion, is held at Euroclear, the Brussels-based central securities depository.
However, ‘weak’ PM De Wever does not fully shut the door on the reparations loan. In exchange for his support, he demands “legally binding, unconditional, irrevocable, on-demand, joint and several guarantees” to cover the €185 billion and any potential arbitration costs facing both Belgium and Euroclear.
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