Bart De Wever, Belgium’s prime minister since February 3, warned strongly against the plans to pursue frozen Russian assets by parts of the EU. The majority of these funds, over 200 billion euros, are under the administration of the Belgian firm Euroclear. Since the moment these assets, belonging to the Russian state, were frozen, the EU has been debating whether it can seize them. The interest on these assets has already been used as collateral for 50 billion euros of EU loans to Ukraine.
The usual Russia-friendly countries – Estonia, Denmark, Sweden, Lithuania, Latvia, Poland and the Czech Republic – want to pass the entire asset to Ukraine. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez is also said to have expressed support for this. Germany and Italy have been strongly against it so far. The debate has intensified again, since a US withdrawal from Ukraine support could be looming.
De Wever, a member of the Flemish-conservative party New Flemish Alliance (N-VA) and previously the mayor of Antwerp, stands before a coalition government, the formation of which took eight months. His party is considered EU-critical. With 16.9 percent of the votes, it won the most votes in the summer 2024 elections in the deeply divided country, split between the French-speaking Wallonia and Flanders.
De Wever not only fears legal disputes, but also a “war act” if the EU were to decide on confiscation. This view is also in line with what has been expressed by the Russian side.
“We don’t live in a fantasy world. We live in reality, where there are consequences when you take away 200 billion euros from someone” he said on Thursday after the meeting of EU heads of state in Brussels. Such a move could bring “systemic risks to the entire financial system”.
It’s not just Russia that the EU would have to reckon with in the event of such a decision. Euroclear also manages assets from the Gulf region, which would likely be withdrawn, as the EU would no longer be considered secure in one go.