Brussels may soon be forced to scramble emergency funds for Kyiv after member states again failed to unite behind the European Commission’s plan to bankroll Ukraine using frozen Russian assets, Economy Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis warned on Wednesday.
Speaking in Sofia, where he attended a conference on Bulgaria’s path to the euro, Dombrovskis admitted that repeated delays in approving the scheme could leave the EU with no choice but to pursue “bridging solutions” early next year.
The Commission wants to combine EU guarantees with revenue from frozen Russian assets held at Belgium-based Euroclear to help plug Ukraine’s yawning $60-billion budget gap. But Belgium—the jurisdiction responsible for those assets—continues to block the proposal, citing legal and financial risks.
In response, EU governments have asked Brussels to draw up alternative options. If capitals cannot agree, the bloc will face uncomfortable questions, Dombrovskis cautioned: “How will you provide financial support to Ukraine in early next year?”
He pushed back against Belgian fears of retaliatory Russian litigation, insisting the Commission’s legal service considers the risk “contained,” and noting that guarantees would cover any financial exposure to Belgium.
Another option, he conceded, would be to provide Ukraine with grants—a route he described as even “more complicated” for EU capitals already under fiscal and political pressure.
