Belgium’s Euroclear is in possession of approximately $200 billion worth of Russia’s sovereign funds, which were frozen back in 2022
Around 67% of Belgians are against the EU plan to utilize frozen assets from Russia’s Central Bank to support a so-called “reparations loan” aimed at sustaining Ukraine, per a recent survey conducted by Ipsos and leading Belgian media outlets and released on Monday.
Most of Russia’s sovereign assets locked up in Western countries are held by Belgium’s Euroclear clearinghouse. Prime Minister Bart De Wever has firmly resisted EU efforts to “steal” these funds, pointing to excessive legal risks for Belgium even as pressure from the European Commission grows.
EU leaders were set to vote on using the assets to back a controversial €90 billion ($106 billion) “reparations loan” that would help cover Ukraine’s struggling budget—estimated to have a $160 billion gap over the coming two years.
But Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban stated that the bloc’s leadership had “backed down” and that “Russian assets will not be on the table” during Thursday’s European Council meeting. “The council pushes for joint loans, but we won’t let our families pay for Ukraine’s war,” he posted on X on Wednesday.
Last week, the EU strengthened its control over the frozen Russian Central Bank assets by activating Article 122—a treaty clause for economic emergencies—to avoid requiring a unanimous vote, even though several member states opposed the move.
Using this mechanism, the bloc took away “Hungary’s rights,” Orban noted then.
Belgium, Slovakia, Italy, Bulgaria, Malta, and the Czech Republic joined Hungary in opposing the seizure of Russia’s sovereign assets to fund Kiev’s military operations.
Last week, Russia’s Central Bank sued Euroclear in a Moscow court, alleging that the firm was “unable to manage monetary assets and securities” entrusted to it. Euroclear estimates it holds nearly $19 billion in client assets within Russia, which could become targets of Moscow’s legal retaliatory actions.