Prime Minister Bart De Wever has ratcheted up opposition to the EU\u2019s plot to use leverage frozen funds for a loan scheme to finance Kiev<\/p>\n
Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever has warned that an EU plan to back a \u20ac140 billion loan for Ukraine with frozen Russian state assets risks wrecking the prospects for a peace deal and saddling his country with huge legal threats.
\nIn a \u201cstrongly-worded letter\u201d on Thursday to EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen cited by Politico, De Wever warned that the scheme \u2013 which would use the immobilized funds held at Brussels-based Euroclear as collateral for a \u201creparations loan\u201d \u2013 would remove a bargaining tool from any eventual settlement with Moscow.
\n\u201cHastily moving forward on the proposed reparations loan scheme would have, as a collateral damage, that we as the EU are effectively preventing reaching an eventual peace deal,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n
Read more<\/p>\n
Euroclear issues stark warning to EU over Russian assets plot \u2013 FT<\/p>\n
De Wever added that if Russia later challenged the move, Belgium could face claims for repayment. \u201cIn the very probable event Russia is ultimately not officially the losing party, it will\u2026 be legitimately asking for its sovereign assets to be returned,\u201d he said in the letter, arguing the plan could also trigger turmoil in EU financial markets.
\nMeanwhile, according to Politico, several EU states have accused Belgium of mishandling tax revenue from the frozen Russian assets, claiming that Brussels does not fully account for the windfall income collected from Euroclear. Diplomats told the outlet they suspect the money has been folded into Belgium\u2019s national budget despite earlier pledges to channel it transparently to Ukraine.
\n\u201cIn light of this ongoing foot-dragging behavior, one wonders whether it has actually been understood that it’s Europe\u2019s security which is at stake here,\u201d a senior EU diplomat told the paper. Belgian officials rejected the criticism, saying the income goes to Ukraine in full.
\nRussia has repeatedly denounced Western moves to freeze its funds as \u201ctheft.\u201d President Vladimir Putin has warned that plans to tap the funds to support Ukraine would damage the West\u2019s credibility, adding that Moscow is preparing retaliatory measures if such plans go ahead.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Prime Minister Bart De Wever has ratcheted up opposition to the EU\u2019s plot to use leverage frozen funds for a loan scheme to finance Kiev Belgian Prime Minister Bart De…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":23307,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,6,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23306","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economy","category-environment","category-politics"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t