Belgium rejects sending frozen Russian assets to Ukraine

Euronews reported the information.

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

According to him, such a move to transfer the assets “would endanger both immediate and long-term trust in Belgium as a financial services hub.”

At the same time, Prévot added that the Belgian government considered this possibility and concluded that it would “undermine” confidence in the euro.

Most of the funds are held in the Euroclear depository, which is governed by EU financial market legislation. The head of Belgium’s foreign ministry said that breaking the rules, even in the case of an existential war, would put the country and the EU at risk, as financiers might reconsider future investments.

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

• Kaja Kallas previously stated that even in the event of a ceasefire, Russia should not be allowed to recover its assets frozen in the EU until it pays reparations to Ukraine.