Stealing Russian assets would be ‘act of war’ – Belgian PM

Stealing Russian assets frozen in the EU would amount to a “declaration of war” against Moscow, Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever has said.

Western nations froze an estimated $300 billion in Russian central bank assets following the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in February 2022. The bulk of the funds – approximately $216 billion – is held in Belgium-based depository Euroclear. Belgian officials opposed an EU scheme which would have leveraged the money as collateral for a €90 billion ($105 billion) ‘reparations loan’ for Kiev. The European Commission failed last month to secure the backing of bloc leaders for the plan, opting instead to raise common debt.

Speaking on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland on Thursday, De Wever said that “you cannot simply confiscate money – that is an act of war. You should not underestimate it.”

“We are not at war with Russia, Europe is not at war with Russia,” he stressed, noting that “immobilized money, even during WWII, was never confiscated.” De Wever argued that appropriating frozen Russian assets would be unprecedented and would undermine trust in the financial system and the eurozone.

Last month, De Wever described the European Commission’s push to “steal” frozen Russian sovereign assets as “very unwise and ill-considered,” warning that it posed “great risks” to Belgium, according to VRT.

Speaking at a live Q&A session in December, Russian President Vladimir Putin warned that the appropriation of Moscow’s assets by the EU would risk undermining “foundations of the modern financial world order.”

“Whatever they steal and however they do it, they will have to pay it back someday,” Putin stated at the time.

Late last year, Moscow initiated arbitration proceedings against Euroclear.

Nevertheless, the European Commission has not given up on its original scheme to tap into the frozen Russian funds. Last week, it said that the controversial proposal “remains on the table.”