Von der Leyen to try to convince Belgium to support loan to Ukraine – Politico

On Friday, November 14, Ursula von der Leyen held talks with Belgian Prime Minister Bart de Vever in an attempt to overcome resistance to the use of frozen Russian assets for lending to Ukraine. This was reported by Politico.

Von der Leyen is expected to try to persuade de Wever to withdraw Belgium's objections to the European Commission's plan to finance a €140 billion loan.

De Wever opposes the initiative because most of the Russian assets are kept in the Brussels-based financial company Euroclear, which creates potential legal and financial risks for Belgium.

It requires firm guarantees that all EU countries will jointly repay the full amount of the loan if Russian state assets are returned to Moscow in the coming years.

"Belgium has persistent fears that the Kremlin will challenge the EU's decision in court and that Brussels will face growing pressure to return Russia's assets after the war ends," Politico's sources say .

Von der Leyen's meeting with de Weever came after the Danish EU presidency officially asked the European Commission to continue the reparations loan, while taking into account Belgium's reservations.

• The idea of a "reparations loan" of up to 140 billion euros, based on the cash balances of Russia's frozen assets, was put forward on September 10.
• Thanks to the "reparations loan", Ukraine could receive 45 billion euros annually for the next three years – from 2026 to 2028.
• On November 13, EU finance ministers agreed during a discussion that the use of frozen assets of the Russian Federation is the most effective of the three options considered by the European Union to help Ukraine.