Nov 27, 2025
Tensions are flaring over Belgium’s continued refusal to play ball with the EU’s plan to tap immobilised Russian assets.
Last night, EU top diplomat Kaja Kallas mounted a forceful defence of the proposal in a private meeting with EPP lawmakers in Strasbourg, leaving several of them smarting.
Belgian MEP Wouter Beke reiterated Prime Minister Bart De Wever’s concerns that fashioning a €140 billion loan for Ukraine would expose Belgium to unacceptable legal and financial risks. The scheme remains Kallas and the Commission’s preferred option for keeping Ukraine afloat next year.
“She wondered why Belgium was so worried. Which court was Russia going to go to? Which judge would ever rule for Russia on this?” said one person who followed the meeting. Kallas also drew a comparison with Iraq’s obligation to pay more than $50 billion in reparations to Kuwait after the 1990 invasion.
Another participant said Kallas was “very condescending” in her remarks about Belgium’s position, while a third described her tone as “incredible.” One non-Belgian MEP summed up the sentiment as essentially: stop complaining. But another MEP insisted she was simply laying out the facts. Kallas also pointed to her Estonian background, two people said, implying she understands Russia better than the Belgians.
Having presented the half-baked, Friedrich Merz-inspired idea to leaders last month, the Commission still has not found a compromise to assuage Belgian fears. Kallas will host a video-conference of foreign ministers today, where the loan is likely to be discussed.
Meanwhile, Europe’s “Coalition of the Willing” threw another ring of support around Ukraine last night, with Ursula von der Leyen hailing “solid and encouraging progress” and Volodymyr Zelenskyy signalling he is ready to meet Donald Trump.
Euractiv columnist Simon Nixon writes in his latest op-ed that Belgium’s concerns are legitimate: the country faces real exposure to Russian retaliation, Euroclear – the Brussels-based clearing house – would shoulder uniquely high legal and financial risk, and the Commission’s proposed mechanism has yet to be tested in any court.
EU leaders still hope to clinch an agreement on the loan at the European Council in late December. “If it’s not done, it will be problematic for the Belgians,” one diplomat warned.
Published by Euractiv
.
We remind our readers that publication of articles on our site does not mean that we agree with what is written. Our policy is to publish anything which we consider of interest, so as to assist our readers in forming their opinions. Sometimes we even publish articles with which we totally disagree, since we believe it is important for our readers to be informed on as wide a spectrum of views as possible.
