Belgian PM Bart De Wever: “countries that live close to Russia … found it emotionally satisfying” to use Russia’s frozen assets.

by Themetalin

22 comments

  1. Feels like he’s describing therapy, not geopolitics emotionally satisfying is one way to put turning frozen assets into warm revenge.

  2. “Expect belgium not to show solidarity” ?

    They and what army? The only thing of any kind of significance in Belgium is the diamond industry and the EU headquarters. Besides that there’s basically nothing there.

  3. This is deep down how western Europe has always been. They step over east (geographically) whenever Russia is related until *pikachu face* Russia does something the east knew they will. 

    Reopening trade with Russia will also be “politics” aka as soon as public can swallow it.

  4. A better choice of words would have been “idealistically satisfying”. Politics can’t be conducted idealistically.

  5. Allies made a mistake when they liberated Belgium from nazi occupation. After all, it was only emotional response.

  6. What are the economical ans political ties between Russia and Belgium?

    Is there some shared history between these countries one should be aware of and understand? The kind which people who dont live in Belgium or Russia, dont understand or know about..

    I think it boils ultimately down to questions like is there a Europe and is there an understanding of an European defense of its borders which in this case is not military but financial? 

    The rogue state of Russia has nationalised and ”oligarched” Non-Russian assets to fund the war. How is it that the Prime minister of Belgium is such a pussy that he is afraid to play hard ball when it is needed?

  7. # I’m sure Bart’s fellow countrymen found liberation by the Allies, after four years of Nazi oppression, emotionally very satisfying.

  8. Russia could not be happier how west is doing right now… 

  9. Fucking hate these cunts sitting comfortably in their holdings deep in the west.

  10. I don’t know but when a person who is a swindler (takes what he doesn’t own) for example and it’s clear under the law that he is guilty the next logical thing for the courts is to sequester his assets or at least freeze them. Later his assets will be divided to his victims. This has been the norm for a long time in national or transnational crimes. I don’t know how this doesn’t apply to Russia?

    Edit: I don’t see anything wrong with this solution nor is it a decision based on “feelings”.

  11. Do you really want to cut the branch you are sitting on that hard? The moment EU touches those funds it loses all legitimacy as investment object because it would mean that your money are not safe here e.g. if they don’t like your politics for any reason. Watch EU losing all foreign investments instantly especially from china and Middle East.

    About Russia attacking beyond Ukraine, on one side we are told that Russia sucks and can’t even deal with Ukraine, and on the other it’s somehow so scary and big that it will attack NATO. Personally I think it’s just fearmongering to distract from huge problems that we already have and boost military complex and lobbied’s money making. I’m sure the current warmongers are getting huge kickbacks from military spending that they instigate.

    So yeah, I agree with the Belgian PM in this case. If your emotions are being pulled, ask who is holding the rope and why.

  12. They are afraid of Russian retaliation, those pussies…

  13. The idea is still to use those frozen assets but just for rebuilding ukraine rather than for financing their ongoing struggle. 

    Also seizing those assets might make the Saudis and Oil emirates place their money elsewhere. 

  15. Belgian here…i am terribly sorry for our Shite prime minister.

  16. I’d say the countries far from Russia found it emotionally satisfying to take Russian money.

  17. Belgian here. First off, I think most other Belgians including the PM want Ukraine to have the money.

    However, this would boil down to Belgium confiscating this money, which is likely to have legal consequences. Now they agreed on a loan to Ukraine, a complex way around this problem. Honestly, I see this more as a failure of other EU countries (YES YOU) to not step up and agree to share in potential legal consequences in the first place. Then this would have been solved months ago!

    Instead, the rest of the EU wanted Belgium to take all the risk. At the same time, they benefit from feeling less pressure to give from their own coffers. Belgium has never been good at advertising itself, so I’m just trying to explain on its behalf. Honestly, Orpo and other State heads now saying “its a tolerable solution but not what we set out to do” I find so sleazy. The solution was simple but none of you could commit to it. Sad to read all these comments shitting on Belgium here too. Our PM is everything but universally loved in Belgium but almost all of Belgium is behind him on this.

  18. To me as a Finn, it is a good thing that Finland is participating in the joint loan to Ukraine. Framing this primarily as the use of Russian assets is somewhat of a distraction. What really matters for Ukraine’s actual capabilities is the size of the loan itself.

    At a more fundamental level, the key objective is to impose material consequences on Russia and to bind Europe more closely together financially.

    I am fully in favor of using Russian assets if doing so makes it politically easier to scale up our support.

  19. Western Europe has such a weird arrogance regarding Russia. They think they know and understand Russia better than countries sharing a land border with Russia who have to deal with Russia on a daily basis whether they like it or not. It’s very weird.

  20. It surpises me that ruZkies can sue EU in EU but not other way around. They even issue threats while Western governments just take it with thumbs in their collective rectums.

    What’s the point of respecting their rights when they behave like malignant khunts and proven themselves again and again.

  22. Is the logic that, if the war ends and relations normalize Russia would longer invest in Belgium?

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