EU countries oppose granting Belgium unlimited guarantees

The European Commission is about to publish the legal basis for granting the loan, trying to do so before April so that Ukraine's military budget does not run dry. EU leaders will express their opinion during a meeting in mid-December, Politico reports.

The reparations loan is extremely controversial for the Belgian government, as it involves using the monetary value of frozen Russian state assets on Belgian territory to finance Ukraine.

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Fearing Russian reprisals, Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever is insisting that EU governments provide Belgium with financial guarantees exceeding €140 billion that can be paid out within days. He also wants the guarantees to extend beyond the duration of EU sanctions against Russia.

Although European governments are willing to guarantee a pre-agreed amount, they do not want to sign what they call a “blank check.” Four EU diplomats told Politico that they cannot accept De Wever's request because it would make their countries' financial stability dependent on a court decision, which could potentially lead to the need to pay billions of euros several years after the end of the war in Ukraine.

“If the guarantees are endless and unlimited, what are we getting ourselves into?” said an EU diplomat.

The question of how comprehensive national guarantees should be is becoming one of the most difficult issues in the negotiations.

“For many member states, it is politically difficult to provide this open check,” said the second EU diplomat.

However, they cautioned that these safeguards are unlikely to ever be used, as the EU scheme is legally secure.

To secure political support, the European Commission showed some EU ambassadors parts of its legal proposal, but the specific amount of guarantees was left blank.

If no progress is made, the most likely alternative is to issue additional EU debt obligations to cover Ukraine's budget deficit. However, this idea is unpopular with most EU governments, as it involves the use of taxpayers' money.

Photo: haqqin.az.

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