Belgium cannot confiscate frozen Russian assets as Europe is not at war with Russia – PM
Belgium cannot confiscate frozen Russian assets, Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever said.
"First and foremost, I want to say its Europe's obligation to finance Ukraine, and we did. Europe will never win beauty prizes for the way it takes decisions, but by the end of the day there is a result: EUR 90 billion to finance Ukraine this year and next year," he said during the Davos Ukrainian Breakfast on Thursday.
According to the prime minister, a decision was also made that the Russia's central bank money, the immobilized assets, not frozen assets, but the immobilized assets, most of which are in Belgium, are immobilized for an indefinite period.
"This is a very important decision, because, of course, you cannot just take somebody's money. We are not at war with Russia. Europe is not at war with Russia. You cannot simply confiscate money. That is an act of war. This should not be underestimated," he said.
De Wever stressed that this has never happened before in history.
"Immobilized money, even during World War II, was never confiscated. It would be the very first time that that would happen in history that that would have great consequences for Europe, for belief, trust in the financial system, for the eurozone. It is not to be underestimated. There is no such thing as free money. anything that sounds simple in reality is very complicated," he said.
The prime minister added that the decision would have to be agreed by all of Europe, while some EU member states "are not so pro-Ukrainian."
"Someone might at some stage say – we do not longer want to prolong sanctions, and then immediately you have to release those assets," he explained.
"The financing of Ukraine is there, and the assets will be immobilized until the end of the war, which means that, as it always went in history, when there is a peace deal, the assets will be on the table," the prime minister added.
He assured that he would personally ensure that "every penny of that money will be used for the repayment and reconstruction of Ukraine."
"I would be very sad to see one euro return to Moscow. But we have to respect international law. It will happen at that moment. And between that moment and now, Europe will finance the war in Ukraine, as we should do, because they are fighting for us," he said.