Belgium Rebuffs EU Proposal on Frozen Russian Assets
"We have the frustrating feeling of not having been heard; our concerns are being downplayed," Belgian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Maxime Prevot told reporters ahead of a NATO foreign ministers' meeting in Brussels on Wednesday.
The European Commission, the EU's executive authority, was scheduled to publicly release Wednesday its detailed framework for deploying Russian funds as backing for a "reparations loan" addressing Ukraine's extensive financial requirements.
"The text the Commission will table today does not address our concerns in a satisfactory manner," Prevot declared, emphasizing that Belgium had "repeatedly" cautioned that the reparations loan approach was "the worst of all."
"It is not acceptable to use the money and leave us alone facing the risks," Prevot stated, insisting that liabilities Belgium confronts under the arrangement be "fully covered."
The dispute emerges as EU officials negotiate mechanisms to mobilize frozen Russian central bank holdings, approximately 90 percent of which remain deposited at Brussels-based securities clearinghouse Euroclear, to generate roughly 140 billion euros (163 billion U.S. dollars) for Ukraine.
Last week, Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever escalated opposition in correspondence to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, characterizing the proposed scheme as "fundamentally flawed" and contending it would breach international law. (1 euro = 1.16 dollar).
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