Speaking ahead of the EU’s special defence summit in Brussels on Thursday Belgian PM Bart De Wever (Flemish nationalist) spoke of what Belgium could do to help Ukraine and the peace process.
‘What Trump is doing is very un-European,’ Prime Minister De Wever said looking back on the events of the past few weeks. ‘He is also a real bully’. Mr De Wever used the English word, not the term in his native Dutch.
However, Mr De Wever is not thinking of cutting ties with the US. ‘The US historically remains our most important ally within NATO. That does not change with a single president.’
Mr Trump's policies ‘do not mean that we should tear up decades-old treaties. We are explicitly not going to do that.’
Belgian troops to guard the peace: ‘It seems logical that Belgium should send troops to Ukraine’
The prime minister advocated caution when it comes to sending European troops to Ukraine. First there must be a peace agreement with sufficient security guarantees. ‘And we are far from there yet,’ he noted.
According to Mr De Wever, it would be logical for Belgium too to send troops in that case. But then there must be a US backstop, he believes. ‘Without American support, deploying troops hardly seems realistic.’
F-16s bound for Ukraine this year?
PM Bart De Wever also commented on the F-16 fighter jets Belgium has promised to gift Ukraine, but which were not Ukraine-bound any time soon.
‘I don't rule out F-16s being sent to Ukraine as early as this year, for spare parts’ Mr De Wever noted.
The prime minister is not ruling out that Belgian F-16s will be delivered to Ukraine as early as this year. But these will then be delivered to be used for spare parts. Fighter-ready F-16s could be delivered as early as next year, Mr De Wever told VRT.
Belgium calls for ‘great caution’ over frozen Russian money
Whether the 200 billion euros of Russian funds frozen in the EU will be discussed at the summit today is doubtful. Using Russian money to benefit Ukraine is a very sensitive issue. For now, only profits on that money are being used.
The Belgian government is not in favour of using these funds for this purpose. ‘I advocate great caution,’ says Prime Minister De Wever. ‘There are major economic and legal risks involved. This could send a shockwave through the world financial order. You should not take a decision on this lightly.’