“European governments have accused Belgium of making excessive demands for guarantees in case the Kremlin sues to use 140 billion euros in frozen Russian assets held in Brussels for a loan to Ukraine.”, — write: www.pravda.com.ua
Source: “European truth”, Politico, citing diplomats.
Details: The European Commission is about to publish the legal basis for granting the loan, trying to make it to April so that Ukraine’s military budget does not run out. EU leaders will express their opinion during a meeting in mid-December.
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The so-called reparation loan is extremely controversial for the Belgian government, as it involves using the monetary value of frozen Russian state assets on Belgian territory to finance Ukraine.
Fearing Russian reprisals, Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever is insisting that EU governments provide Belgium with financial guarantees that exceed 140 billion euros and can be paid within a few days. He also wants these guarantees to last longer than EU sanctions against Russia.
While European governments are willing to guarantee a pre-agreed sum, they are reluctant to sign what they call a “blank cheque”. Four EU diplomats told Politico that they could not accept De Wever’s request because it would make their countries’ financial stability dependent on the court’s ruling, potentially requiring billions of euros in payments years after the end of the war in Ukraine.
“If [гарантії] are endless and without limits, so what are we getting ourselves into?” said an EU diplomat who, like others quoted in the article, was granted anonymity to speak freely. The question of how comprehensive national guarantees should be is becoming one of the most difficult in the negotiations.
“It is politically difficult for many member states to provide this blank check,” said a second EU diplomat. However, they warned that these safeguards are unlikely to ever be used because the EU scheme is legally secure.
To secure political support, the European Commission showed parts of its legal proposal to some EU ambassadors, but the specific amount of guarantees was left blank.
If progress is not achieved, the most likely alternative is the issuance of additional EU debt obligations to cover Ukraine’s budget deficit. But this idea is not popular with most EU governments because it involves the use of taxpayers’ money.
Despite Belgium’s resistance, the German government is counting on the EU to be able to use frozen Russian state assets to finance a loan to Ukraine in the amount of 140 billion euros.
Belgium believes that the scheme of providing Ukraine with “reparation loans” lobbied by the European Commission using the frozen assets of Russia initially is incorrect and does not take into account the previously voiced warnings of the Belgian authorities.
Earlier, the mass media reported that European countries develop a “plan B” just in caseunless they can agree to use frozen Russian assets to provide a reparation loan to Ukraine so that the country is not left without funding in early 2026.