Belgium Does Not Want to Hand Over Russia's Frozen Assets from Euroclear to the EU

Brussels demands legal guarantees because of possible lawsuits from Moscow.

Belgium does not support moving frozen Russian assets from the Belgian depository Euroclear to another financial structure under the control of the European Union, which could make it easier to use or confiscate them in support of Ukraine.

This was reported to Suspilne by an unnamed Belgian official.

Last week, Ukrainian Finance Minister Serhiy Marchenko suggested in an interview with Euronews that the EU could change the location of stored frozen Russian assets by transferring them from Belgium to EU control. However, the Belgian official said his country's position has not changed.

“Any proposal regarding frozen Russian assets must provide a complete and legally flawless solution that will cover both the assets and the liabilities of Euroclear and the Belgian state,” he said.

Belgium believes that any decision must take into account the legal risks associated with court proceedings in Russia. The official specifically mentioned a Russian court ruling issued in July during an appeal hearing.

Belgian Defense Minister Theo Francken earlier also said on X that his country is categorically opposed to using frozen Russian assets to financially support Ukraine.

“This is not up for discussion, the door is closed. Our prime minister will stand his ground,” Francken wrote.

Meanwhile, the European Commission has resumed work on finding options that could persuade EU countries to agree to use frozen Russian assets for Ukraine's benefit. A previous attempt was blocked by Belgium, where most of the roughly 210 billion euros in assets of the Central Bank of Russia frozen in the West are held.

The Belgian government and its allies explained their position by citing a lack of sufficient guarantees on how risks would be shared in the event of possible legal claims from Moscow.

Ukraine, for its part, says it faces a financing shortfall of 27 billion dollars this year. Next year it could be even larger, although the final amount has not yet been confirmed by the IMF and other international donors.

As The New York Times wrote, European officials did not expect the deficit to be this large. According to the paper, questions have also arisen in Europe about the effectiveness of spending and the justification of Ukraine's financial needs.