EU leaders try to reach an agreement on using frozen Russian assets to finance Ukraine

EU leaders convened in Brussels on Thursday, where they tried to reach an agreement on using frozen Russian assets to finance Ukraine's war effort. However, so far no deal has been reached as seven countries have expressed serious concerns over the idea.

Prime Minister Andrej Plenković joined his fellow EU leaders in Brussels on Thursday for a summit at which European leaders tried to agree on a mechanism to finance Ukraine’s war effort going forward. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, had this to say ahead of their talks: "It is good that the European Council has committed itself, last time, that we will close the financing gap of Ukraine for the next two years. We're speaking about 137 billion euros that are necessary - our own estimate and the estimate of the IMF. And we have committed to cover two thirds of it. 90 billion euros."

However, Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever has voiced deep concerns about the European Commission’s proposed plan to use frozen Russian assets to float a reparations loan to Ukraine. His primary concern is that it would be left exposed to the legal and financial risks of such action given that the frozen Russian assets are held by the EuroClear Company based in Belgium. Recently De Wever noted that this kind of tactic was not even used during the Second World War. The EU Commissioner for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Kaja Kallas, however, claims that these concerns are being put to rest through negotiations: "The proposals that we have been working on, also addressing Belgium's concerns, I think to go for the legislative proposal means that we all take the risk, because it's a European proposal, so the risk and the burden is shared equally."

But Belgium is not alone, as another six EU member states have also expressed their concerns. Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Italy, Malta, and Slovakia, have voiced opposition to the idea, while Hungary opposes any form of financial aid or security guarantees for Ukraine. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban: "Guarantees for what? The whole idea is a stupid one. There are two countries that are in war. And neither is the European Union, they are Russia and Ukraine. And somebody, in this case the European Union, would like to take money away from one of the warring parties and then to give it to the other one. That's marching into the war. So, the Belgian Prime Minister is right, we should not do that."

Source: HRT