Overview
- Prime Minister Bart de Wever told Ursula von der Leyen the loans-for-reparations scheme is fundamentally wrong and warned against entering untested legal and financial territory.
- The Commission’s September proposal would deploy roughly €140 billion in Russian central bank assets frozen in Belgium, with Moscow regaining access only after paying reparations to Kyiv.
- Belgium conditions any consent on binding, written commitments from EU partners to shoulder legal exposure and potential retaliation, rejecting assurances that risks are minimal.
- The European Commission plans to publish legislative texts in the coming days to advance the proposal and clarify the legal framework.
- EU leaders aim to agree by the 18 December summit on Ukraine financing as Kyiv needs substantial aid and a U.S. 28‑point plan intensifies concerns over control of the frozen funds.