{"id":613138,"date":"2025-12-05T05:05:14","date_gmt":"2025-12-05T05:05:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/613138\/"},"modified":"2025-12-05T05:05:14","modified_gmt":"2025-12-05T05:05:14","slug":"eu-leaders-race-to-save-ukraine-funding-deal-as-kyivs-cash-runs-low-european-union","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/613138\/","title":{"rendered":"EU leaders race to save Ukraine funding deal as Kyiv\u2019s cash runs low | European Union"},"content":{"rendered":"

Germany\u2019s chancellor, Friedrich Merz, will meet the European Commission chief, Ursula von der Leyen<\/a>, and Belgium\u2019s prime minister, Bart De Wever, for emergency talks on Friday as the EU races to save its sorely needed financing plan for Ukraine.<\/p>\n

The three leaders will dine in private in Brussels, a German government spokesperson said on Thursday, as Belgian officials continued to express<\/a> strong opposition to the scheme, which involves the unprecedented use of frozen Russian assets.<\/p>\n

With Russia\u2019s attacks intensifying, Washington pushing for a peace deal that favours Moscow and Kyiv fast running out of money and Europe struggling for influence at US-led talks, the bloc must find a solution or suffer a major blow to its credibility.<\/p>\n

Two weeks before a crucial 18 December EU summit, von der Leyen on Wednesday<\/a> proposed two main options for the EU to raise the tens of billions of euros Ukraine needs to keep funding its struggling military and basic services against Russia\u2019s war.<\/p>\n

The EU has pledged to keep Ukraine<\/a> afloat next year. It aims to raise \u20ac90bn (\u00a380bn) to meet about two-thirds of Kyiv\u2019s needs for 2026 and 2027, von der Leyen said, giving Ukraine the means to negotiate a peace deal \u201cfrom a position of strength\u201d.<\/p>\n

The bloc could either borrow against its shared budget on the international markets, the commission president said, or issue a loan secured by immobilised Russian assets \u2013 mainly held in Belgium<\/a> \u2013 that Kyiv would repay from Russia\u2019s postwar reparations.<\/p>\n

There are, however, obstacles to both alternatives. Many member states are not keen on common borrowing, which would have to be repaid. It would also need unanimity, which may prove difficult given Hungary\u2019s past opposition to funding for Ukraine.<\/p>\n

The frozen assets plan, floated almost two months ago, continues to be fiercely rejected by Belgium, which hosts about two-thirds of the estimated \u20ac290bn of Russian assets held in the west at Euroclear, a securities depository in Brussels.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is quite a big moment,\u201d a diplomat from a founding member state said. \u201cIt\u2019s never easy to reach agreement at 27, we know that. But if we can\u2019t do something as existential as funds for Ukraine, we\u2019ll really have failed \u2013 both us, and Ukraine.\u201d<\/p>\n

Belgium\u2019s prime minister, Bart De Wever, is strongly against the plan to use frozen assets, fearing his country could suffer Russian reprisals. Photograph: Beno\u00eet Doppagne\/Belga\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n

The logic of using the assets as security for a huge loan to Ukraine \u2013 not confiscating them, which most experts agree would be illegal \u2013 is that it would show Moscow that Ukraine could keep fighting for years, putting Kyiv in a better negotiating position.<\/p>\n

But De Wever\u2019s government has repeatedly argued that should Russia decide to launch retaliatory legal action, or demand its money back because the sanctions against it have been lifted, it risks being left on the hook for billions, alone.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have the frustrating feeling of not having been heard. The texts the commission tabled do not address our concerns in a satisfactory manner,\u201d Belgium\u2019s foreign minister, Maxime Pr\u00e9vot, said on Wednesday, calling for joint EU borrowing instead.<\/p>\n

De Wever, a Flemish nationalist, has gone further. The Belgian prime minister told an event in Brussels this week it was \u201ca nice idea, stealing from the bad guy to give to the good guy. But stealing the frozen assets of another country has never been done.\u201d<\/p>\n

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He added: \u201cEven during the second world war, we did not confiscate Germany\u2019s money. In a war, you freeze sovereign assets. And at the end, the losing side must give up all or part of those assets to compensate the victors.\u201d<\/p>\n

But, De Wever claimed, it was \u201ca fairytale, a complete illusion\u201d to \u201cimagine that Russia will lose this war in Ukraine\u201d. Moscow had \u201clet us know that if the assets are seized, Belgium, and me personally, will feel the effects for eternity\u201d.<\/p>\n

The commission has insisted the plan complies fully with EU and international law and a \u201cthree-tier defence\u201d would shield Belgium from legal jeopardy, an argument von der Leyen and Merz are likely to advance at Friday evening\u2019s dinner.<\/p>\n

In an op-ed<\/a> in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper on Thursday, the German chancellor warned his fellow EU leaders that the decisions they made over the coming days would \u201cdecide the question of European independence\u201d.<\/p>\n

An \u201cimperialist Russia\u201d was \u201cstriving to extend its sphere of influence into the states of Europe\u201d and \u201cpreparing militarily for a conflict with the west\u201d, Merz said, adding that it was vital to \u201csend an unambiguous signal to Moscow\u201d by using the assets.<\/p>\n

He said Belgium should be given assurances the risks of the plan would be borne fairly by all EU member states, with each country \u201cincurring an equal share of the risk, as a function of their respective economic performance\u201d.<\/p>\n

Europe must \u201cdecide and shape what happens on our continent\u201d, he added. \u201cThe financial resources of an aggressor have been lawfully frozen within the jurisdiction of our constitutional state. What we decide now will determine the future of Europe.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Germany\u2019s chancellor, Friedrich Merz, will meet the European Commission chief, Ursula von der Leyen, and Belgium\u2019s prime minister,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":613139,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7654],"tags":[2000,299,657],"class_list":{"0":"post-613138","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ukraine","8":"tag-eu","9":"tag-europe","10":"tag-ukraine"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115665222192850809","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/613138","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=613138"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/613138\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/613139"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=613138"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=613138"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=613138"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}