Belgium is in a critical position due to hosting Euroclear, the financial firm managing most of the immobilized assets, and worries about potential legal and financial risks from the initiative. These assets were frozen by the EU following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
If the assets plan fails, von der Leyen proposed issuing common EU debt, eventually repaid by national capitals, as previously reported by POLITICO.
Another option is for each country to fund Ukraine individually through their national budgets.
However, these alternatives are challenging for highly indebted nations like France and Italy, which lack the resources to finance Ukraine.
During Parliament’s plenary session, von der Leyen stated that using the frozen Russian assets is “the most effective way to sustain Ukraine’s defense and its economy. And the clearest way to make Russia understand that time is not on its side.”
Her remarks to Parliament coincide with the EU finance ministers’ upcoming discussion on the topic in Brussels on Thursday.
The EU is under pressure to quickly reach an agreement as Ukraine is projected to run out of funds next spring.
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