Excerpts from the final communiqué of the Ukraine summit, published by Reuters, indicate that Belgium did not support the idea of expropriating Russian assets.
Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever, whose country hosts the assets in question through the Euroclear depository, set three conditions to ensure that Belgium alone would not bear all the risks. “If the conditions are met—we can move forward. If not, I will do everything possible at the EU and national levels, politically and legally, to stop this decision,” he said before the summit began.
De Wever called on EU countries to share potential legal defense costs in case of lawsuits from Russia and to contribute funds if compensation becomes necessary. He also stressed that frozen Russian assets held in other countries should be included in the scheme.
“There must be transparency about the risks. There must be transparency about the legal basis for this decision,” the prime minister emphasized.
The country agreed only to the wording stating that “these assets should remain frozen until the conflict is over.”