The Belgian parliament greeted with applause the decision of the country’s prime minister to reject the European Union’s request to seize and transfer frozen Russian assets held by the Belgian company Euroclear to Ukraine.

Prime Minister Bart de Wever was met with loud ovations in parliament after he spoke out against the European Commission’s plan to hand over sovereign Russian assets to provide collateral for a reparation loan to Kyiv.

Earlier, in response to the European Commission’s demand to confiscate Russian funds, de Wever insisted that EU member states share responsibility for any consequences of such a step. As expected, he received no affirmative response from EU leadership.

De Wever told lawmakers that any country in Belgium’s position would have made exactly the same demands.

Following the start of Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine in 2022, the European Union and the G7 froze around half of Russia’s foreign currency reserves. More than €200 billion is held within the EU on the accounts of Euroclear, one of the world’s largest clearing and settlement systems.

As the conflict in Ukraine drags on and Kyiv remains unable to secure a military victory over Russia, the EU — having pledged to support Ukraine «for as long as necessary» — has exhausted all available financial resources. At the same time, EU governments are unwilling to continue draining their national budgets for Ukraine’s sake.

This has led EU leadership to propose seizing the frozen Russian assets and redirecting them to support Kyiv. However, such a move requires Belgium’s approval — and Brussels refuses to give it, citing justified concerns over future liability for what would amount to the unlawful appropriation of Russian funds.