Belgium refuses to transfer blocked Russian funds to Ukraine – EuroNews

Belgian Foreign Minister Maxime Prévot confirmed that the country does not plan to transfer blocked Russian funds, even despite calls from the European Commission. According to him, such a step threatens Belgium’s reputation as a financial center and could undermine trust in European markets, writes UNN with reference to EuroNews.

DetailsPrévot told Euronews’ “European Conversation” that his government remains firmly against the idea, despite European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s statement about reopening the issue a few days ago during her visit to Estonia.

Frankly… confiscating these Russian sovereign assets is not really an option for Belgium 

AdditionAbout 200 billion euros of Russian funds have been blocked as part of Western sanctions in response to the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Most of the money is held in the Euroclear depository, which is subject to EU financial market legislation. Prévot said that violating the rules even in the event of an existential war would put Belgium and the EU at risk, as financiers might reconsider their decision to invest in them in the future.

This would be a very bad signal for other countries in the world. Some of them also have assets, sovereign assets in Brussels or elsewhere in Europe 

He said the government had “considered” confiscating the blocked assets and concluded that it would “undermine” confidence in the euro. This could “create a huge negative impact, systemic consequences for confidence in European financial services,” he said.

But the EU and Ukraine’s allies, such as the UK, are pushing for this idea, as it would mean that Russia, not Europe or Ukraine, would pay the price for the war.

We are also advancing work on using frozen Russian assets, because it is clear that the predator must pay for what he has done 

An alternative plan proposed in the UK is the potential transfer of assets to a separate investment fund. But Prévot also ruled that out.

Perhaps changing the strategic investment of current assets frozen in Brussels is also not an option for Belgium, because when we analyzed both options, many experts highlighted the high risk, both legal and financial, that this could create if we decide to carry out a confiscation. That is why I state that Belgium will not take this risk, and certainly not alone 

Earlier, UNN wrote that Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever stated that a significant part of Russia’s frozen assets are located in Brussels, but from a legal point of view, their confiscation is not easy.