Bart De Wever’s government is under increasing pressure as the European Union’s deadline for a decision on how to fill Ukraine’s funding gap—in particular, on whether to use frozen Russian assets—nears. It has even been threatened by the Brussels—that is, the EU, not the Belgian—establishment with having its bloc powers slashed if it doesn’t play ball.
Yet while most of these assets may be held in Belgium, the country is not alone in opposing their confiscation.
Italy, alongside Malta and Bulgaria, has also urged the European Commission and Council to consider “alternative options … presenting significantly less risk.”
National reports said on Tuesday that “the discussion will continue until the last possible minute” because “the doubts in Italy, and elsewhere, are still there.” It has even been suggested that the decision supposed to be made at the European Council summit starting tomorrow, December 18th, could be postponed until Saturday, December 20th.
Hungary has consistently expressed opposition to the use of these assets, which Prime Minister Viktor Orbán says would amount to “a declaration of war” by the EU.
This is in keeping with comments made by U.S. State Department advisor Samuel Samson in a press briefing on Wednesday morning—that many European leaders have been “hesitant” to get on board with pushing for peace in Ukraine.
Czechia’s newly-installed Prime Minister Andrej Babiš has also come out against the Kyiv loan, saying “the European Commission must find other ways to finance Ukraine.”
But, significantly, the EU does not need unanimous backing to use Russian frozen assets to fund Ukraine, and could pass a vote by qualified majority even if all the countries that have spoken out so far oppose it. Kaja Kallas, the bloc’s top diplomat, has, however, said “it’s important that [Belgium is] on board with whatever we do.” We’ll soon see about that.
Michael Curzon is a news writer for europeanconservative.com based in England’s Midlands. He is also Editor of Bournbrook Magazine, which he founded in 2019, and previously wrote for London’s Express Online. His Twitter handle is @MichaelCurzon_.
