European Commission suggests way to provide Russian assets to Ukraine without risks for Belgium

According to Ukrinform, Politico in an article stated that Belgium's ultimate fear is that if the EUR 140 billion is lent to Ukraine, a single pro-Russian EU country, such as Hungary or Slovakia, could veto the renewal of the EU's sanctions regime against Moscow. That would require Belgium to immediately return the missing billions to Russia.

To prevent this, the European Commission proposes limiting the ability of individual member states to lift sanctions. As the outlet notes, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán currently has the power to do exactly that, as sanctions require unanimity and must be renewed every six months.

The Commission now sees a way around this: It wants to resort to a clause in Article 122 of the EU treaty, which allows governments to decide "in a spirit of solidarity between Member States, upon the measures appropriate to the economic situation." Under the EU executive's plan, sanctions could then be extended by a qualified majority vote, removing Hungary's ability to veto them.

The EU's lawyers agree that the fluid language of Article 122 justifies overhauling the unanimity requirements because a reversal of the sanctions would wreak havoc on the European economy. That reading could also be used to reduce the frequency of sanctions renewal votes from every six months to once every three years, said the diplomats briefed on the discussions.

The loan proposal is expected to be unveiled on Wednesday. The European Commission wants all 27 EU member states to approve issuing a loan to Kyiv backed by these assets at the December European Council summit. Belgium opposes the idea, fearing that if sanctions on Russia lapse, it would be forced to reimburse the funds.

The key question is whether the Commission's latest legal gymnastics will satisfy Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever and prompt him to allow the release of the Russian funds from the Euroclear bank in Brussels.

As Ukrinform reported, the Belgian depository Euroclear, where most of Russia’s frozen assets are stored, has warned that European governments would face higher borrowing costs if the EU uses the frozen Russian assets to provide Ukraine with loans totaling EUR 140 billion .

Photo: eumetsat.int