The EU is “not ready” to take the unprecedented step of raiding €140 billion of frozen Russian assets to send a massive loan to Ukraine, Belgium’s European commissioner said Friday.
Speaking to POLITICO, Hadja Lahbib, a former Belgian foreign minister, warned that a lot of work is still needed to ensure the legal risks are minimized and shared fairly between Belgium, the other 26 EU countries and even the G7 before the plan can move forward.
She suggested other EU countries where assets are held are not doing enough to release funds to Ukraine, pointing out that Belgium — which holds most of the funds in the financial depository Euroclear — had already contributed interest accrued to help Kyiv’s war effort against Russia.
Lahbib’s comments followed the collapse of a plan to raid Russia’s sovereign assets that have been immobilized in the EU since the start of Vladimir Putin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Under the proposal, the money would be sent to Kyiv as a “reparations loan,” only due for repayment in the unlikely event that Russia pays war damages in future.
Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever blocked the plan at a European Council leaders’ summit in Brussels on Thursday night because he feared his country would face legal and financial retaliation from Putin.
“We are not ready,” said Lahbib, who holds the humanitarian aid and crisis management portfolio, when asked why the proposal was delayed. “It’s unprecedented. It is the first time that we are doing so, so we are in the territory that we need to explore very carefully to deal with all the potential consequences.”
The assets, she said, belong to Russia’s central bank and are protected under international law, which must be respected. “Belgium but also other member states are aware that we need to go forward cautiously,” she said.
Lahbib said she would not “name and shame” the other EU countries where Russian assets are deposited, but questioned whether they were playing their full part in using the interest from these assets to help Ukraine in the way Belgium has done. Deposits are also held in France, Luxembourg and Germany, among other countries.
The European Commission, the bloc’s executive arm, will now work up detailed proposals for how to help Ukraine plug its funding shortfall. If €140 billion in Russian assets is eventually sent to Kyiv, it will meet Kyiv’s needs for at least the next two years.
EU leaders have pledged to look again at what options the Commission proposes — including using the assets — when they next meet in December. Asked if the plan would be ready to be approved by then, Lahbib sounded cautious.
“If we have the good lawyers, the good system, the support of the G7, the 27 member states and all of them ready to take the responsibility with Belgium, it can go quickly,” she said. “Ask the others. Are they ready?”
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