Belgium fears use of frozen Russian assets for loan to Ukraine might be seen as confiscation - media
BRUSSELS. Oct 9 (Interfax) - Belgium fears that the European Commission's proposal to use Russia's frozen assets to provide a "reparation loan" to Ukraine might be seen as their confiscation, and the Belgian authorities have outlined their "red lines" when making such a decision, Politico reported on Thursday.
"Belgium has laid out its red lines for using Russian assets to fund a 140 billion euro reparations loan to Ukraine, including an agreement by EU countries to share all current and future risks related to the plan for an amount exceeding 170 billion euros," the publication said.
Belgium hosts the financial depository, Euroclear, which holds the bulk of the Russian state assets that were frozen in 2022, Politico recalled.
The publication said that during an informal summit last week in Copenhagen, Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever suggested that the European Commission's scheme to leverage Russian frozen assets effectively amounted to confiscation. "The distinction between a 'reparation loan' and confiscation is, in reality, extremely narrow," it quoted De Wever as saying. "If these assets remain immobilized for an extended period, the arrangement could be seen as a quasi-confiscation," he said.
"These guarantees cannot be limited to the 170 billion euros in cash that the [European] Commission proposes to mobilize. The potential exposure could be much higher than the nominal amount," the publication quoted him as saying earlier.
Thus, the Belgian government fears it will be responsible for any legal and financial claims filed by Russia and has been calling for all EU countries to guarantee the loan, which effectively means using taxpayer money to cover any costs.
The Belgian PM added a further condition that the guarantees do not automatically end when sanctions are lifted. Arbitration procedures could still emerge years later.
"The statement by the Belgian prime minister raised lots of difficult questions and they are still being examined," the publication quoted a senior EU diplomat as saying on condition of anonymity.
The Financial Times said on October 8 that EU countries had increased pressure on Belgium due to the fact that it is in no hurry to grant permission to use the Russian assets frozen in its jurisdiction to support Ukraine.
In early October, De Wever said there had been proposals to lend Ukraine a 140 billion euros from the Central Bank of Russia's 170 billion euros immobilized in Belgium. He said Russian assets worth 160 billion euros were frozen in other countries, "and no one ever talks about this."
Also on October 2, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said he hoped a concrete decision to use frozen Russian assets to help Kiev would be made in three weeks at the EU summit to be held on October 23-24.
