Belgium won’t transfer frozen Russian assets to Ukraine — Foreign ministry

He made this statement in an interview with Euronews, according to Ukrinform. 

He said that such a move would jeopardize Belgium's long-standing reputation as a financial services center.

Prévot said his government remains firmly opposed to the idea, despite European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen's statement a few days ago that the issue would be reopened.

“Frankly speaking... confiscating those Russian sovereign assets is really not an option for Belgium,” he said.

As part of Western sanctions in response to the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, around EUR 200 billion of Russian funds remain frozen.

Most of the money is held in the Euroclear depository, which is subject to EU financial market legislation. Prevot said that breaking the rules, even in the event of an existential war, would put Belgium and the EU at risk, as financiers might reconsider investing in them in the future.

“It would be a very bad signal to other countries worldwide. Some of them also have assets, sovereign assets in Brussels or in other places in Europe,” he said, adding that the government had ‘considered’ confiscating the frozen assets and concluded that it would “undermine” confidence in the euro.

This could “create huge bad impact, systemic consequences for the credibility of the European financial services,” he said.

Meanwhile, the EU and other allies of Ukraine, such as the UK, are pushing for this idea.

“We are also advancing the work on the use of the Russian frozen assets, because it’s clear that the predator has to pay for what he did,” said Leyen.

An alternative plan proposed by the UK is the potential transfer of assets to a separate investment fund, an idea that Prevot also rules out.

"Maybe changing also the strategic investment of the current assets frozen in Brussels is also not an option for Belgium because when we analysed the two options we have many experts underlying the high risk both legal financial it can generate if we decide to confiscate," he said.

“So it's why I express the fact that Belgium will not take this risk and certainly not alone,” the minister said.

As reported by Ukrinform, President Volodymyr Zelensky called on the European Union to make a decision on Russia's frozen assets.

Earlier it was reported that the European Commission is developing a scheme to transfer nearly EUR 200 billion in frozen Russian assets to rebuild Ukraine after the end of the war.

At the same time, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Kęstutis Budrys said that EU countries remain skeptical about proposals to use frozen Russian assets to support Ukraine.