The Belgian Prime Minister admitted that Russia threatened him personally for agreeing to unfreeze Russian assets.
Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever reported that Russia threatened him personally in the event of the confiscation of frozen Russian assets. The European Commission published a legal justification for transferring 210 billion euros of Russian reserves to Ukraine, but Belgium refused to consent to this. De Wever noted that Moscow stated that in the event of confiscation, Belgium and he personally would feel the consequences "forever," writes The Moscow Times.
"Moscow has made it clear to us that if there is confiscation, Belgium and I personally will feel the consequences forever. It seems like a very long time," the Belgian newspaper La Libre quoted De Wever's speech at a Catholic conference on December 1.
According to De Wever, during a war, sovereign assets are frozen, and after the conflict ends, the losing country must partially or completely relinquish them to compensate for the damage. However, he doubts that Russia will actually lose in Ukraine, as this could lead to instability in a country with nuclear weapons.
Belgium is setting strict conditions for the European Commission to agree to the transfer of reserves frozen in the Euroclear depository. To prevent the return of funds to Russia, it is proposed to justify the transfer as an "emergency situation" caused by Russia's actions during the war in Ukraine. This would allow a decision to be made by a qualified majority - two-thirds of the votes of EU countries, rather than unanimously.
Senior EU officials acknowledge that the decision will be challenged in court and possibly overturned, but there are virtually no other options. Former head of the Legal Service of the Council of the EU, Jean-Claude Piris, notes that this is an "exceptional, very difficult situation," but the importance of the decision forces him to promote it, as there is a war going on.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz will arrive in Brussels on Friday to convince De Wever to agree to the European Commission's plan. Time for reaching a compromise is very limited - this needs to be done before the EU leaders' summit on December 18. Merz stressed that Belgium cannot rely only on political promises, and negotiations should begin and end as soon as possible.
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