The Netherlands, Poland, Spain and Sweden are asking the European Commission, the EU’s executive, to devise a solution that would allow the frozen Russian assets held at Euroclear, the European securities depository, to be used to support Ukraine after all. This brings a matter that seemed to have been settled last December back onto the European negotiating table and puts Belgium back in the grinder.
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Euroclear back in the spotlight: 4 countries eager to use €193 billion in Russian assets after all
Colin Clapson
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The four countries raised this request last Thursday in a letter to the Commission. The fact that it is these countries in particular comes as little surprise. The Netherlands, Poland and Sweden were already in favour of this last year. In the Netherlands, the use of the frozen funds is even included in the Jetten government’s coalition agreement.
“These are countries that provide a great deal of support to Ukraine from their own budgets – more than the average,” says VRT’s EU correspondent Rob Heirbaut. “In fact, they would prefer not to have to do so any longer, which is why they are eying those Russian assets.”
It is notable, however, that Spain is on also board. “Spain has always kept a low profile on this issue until now and is certainly no champion when it comes to financial support for Ukraine,” says Heirbaut.
The issue is back on the table, just nine months after European leaders decided not to release the frozen funds. Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever (Flemish nationalist) stood his ground at the time. The EU chose instead to borrow 90 billion euros on the capital markets and pass this on to Ukraine as an interest-free loan. That was supposed to suffice for 2026 and 2027.
“That appears not to be the case. That much is already clear,” says Heirbaut. “The war is only intensifying. Moreover, Europe had hoped that non-EU countries such as Canada and Japan would also contribute, but they have contributed less than promised.”
What does this mean for Belgium?
The request from the four countries is not addressed to Belgium, but to the European Commission. They are explicitly asking for a proposal that takes Belgian concerns into account, whereby the risk is spread across all EU Member States. At present, that risk lies largely with Belgium, as the majority of the frozen Russian assets are held at Euroclear in Brussels.
In August, three former senior officials put forward a proposal to this end: Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, the former German Defence Minister; Nathalie Loiseau, the former French European Affairs Minister, and Daleep Singh, who served as Deputy National Security Adviser under President Joe Biden.
‘They say: we can use a European decision to remove that money from Euroclear and transfer it to the EU, and also remove all liability from Belgium,’ explains Heirbaut. ‘They say that is legally possible. I assume those four countries are also in favour of this.’
Meanwhile, the Belgian position remains unchanged. Belgium does not want to bear the burden of legal claims and potential Russian countermeasures alone. It is therefore demanding unlimited solidarity from the other Member States. “At this stage, that is only to be expected,” says Heirbaut. “There isn’t a single proposal on paper yet, so countries are staking out their positions.”
The Belgian government’s hardline stance is partly due to recent developments in Moscow. A Russian court ordered Euroclear to pay damages of over 200 billion euros and upheld that ruling on appeal in July.
Euroclear does not recognise the jurisdiction of that court and has taken the matter to the Commercial Court in Brussels. Belgian PM De Wever fears harsher reprisals if the assets are actually seized.
According to VRT’s Rob Heirbaut, Belgium’s allies are the same countries as in December. France, where several banks also hold Russian assets, and Italy supported Belgium then and continues to do so.
“Who I find to be conspicuously silent is Germany,” says Heirbaut. Last year, Chancellor Friedrich Merz made a complete U-turn by suddenly advocating the use of the assets. “At the moment, Germany is remaining conspicuously silent.”
What next?
According to Heirbaut, the European Commission is not yet working on a concrete plan. Last year, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced that the assets would be used, but she now seems more cautious. “Apparently, they would rather wait until the heads of government have discussed the matter.”
That won’t happen until October, at the European summit. The agenda will include both support for Ukraine and the European multiannual budget. If it proves impossible to find funds for Ukraine through that budget, the Russian assets will once again come in focus.
What is at issue?
Euroclear is a Brussels-based financial institution that holds shares and bonds on behalf of banks and central banks and handles the settlement of stock market transactions. Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the Russian central bank’s reserves there have been frozen.
Across the EU, this amounts to approximately 210 billion euros in frozen Russian funds. The bulk of this, around 193 billion euros, is held by Euroclear. Russia cannot access these securities, but the money remains legally owned by Russia. Consequently, it cannot simply be seized.
The interest and dividends generated by these assets are paid into a blocked account. Euroclear uses them for reinvestment. The majority of the interest revenue is transferred to the European support fund for Ukraine. In total, Ukraine has already received 6.6 billion euros in interest income.