Reparation Loan for Ukraine: Belgium has Reasons not to Give Money
The Belgian government has set out its conditions.
The Gaze reports on it according to Dzerkalo tyzhnia.
The Belgian government has promised to veto the decision on a reparations loan for Ukraine from Russia's frozen assets if its demands are not met. This is written by Elena Galushka, co-founder of the International Center for Ukrainian Victory and member of the board of the Anti-Corruption Center, and Andrey Mikheev, expert on international law at ICUV and ANTS, in the article “The War for Reparation Credit.”
In particular, the country's government demands:
legally binding and unconditional financial guarantees from EU member states;
equal distribution of legal risks in the event of a successful appeal by Russia against the reparations loan;
the inclusion of assets frozen not only in Euroclear, but also in other jurisdictions — France, the UK, Japan, the US, Canada, and others — in the loan.
“Realizing that Belgium is a weak link that needs to be pressured, Moscow has stepped up its hybrid aggression. On October 8, arms manufacturer Thales reported that more and more drones are flying over their secret factories,” the authors noted.
In addition to fear, the Belgian government may be guided by other motives. For example, the Belgian government has a vested interest in “not letting go of the goose that lays the golden eggs,” as the country's budget earns money from these funds. Indeed, since 2022, Euroclear has paid €3.39 billion in windfall taxes to the Belgian budget. By comparison, Belgium's bilateral aid to Ukraine during this period amounted to only €2.2 billion.
As the Gaze reported earlier Merz Сalls on the EU to Share the Risks of Using Russian Assets.