The Belgian Prime Minister, Bart De Wever, is still opposing the confiscation of Russian assets after EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced earlier this week that the EU will roll out a new law that will pave the way for the confiscation of Russian assets for the reconstruction of Ukraine.
The decision by the EU Commission to proceed with a law to confiscate Russian assets comes after Belgium opposed the original proposal. With Belgium once again throwing the spanner into the works, European leaders are now finding ways to pressure Belgium into accepting the process.
The European Council is now gradually moving to a qualified majority system over security and foreign affairs issues and it is highly unlikely Belgium would be able to veto such a decision. Belgium will probably try to challenge the EU law via local Courts but doing so would undermine Belgium’s relationship with the European Union.
The European Union is urgently trying to fill a €140 billion shortfall in Ukraine’s budget for the upcoming two years and Russian assets are the most immediate and effective solution for this.
Most of Russian frozen assets are being held at securities depository company called Euroclear based in Belgium. The Prime Minister also said that the was “warned” by the Russian not go ahead with the confiscation.
Newsroom
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