Merz flies to Belgium to urge support for ’reparations loan’ to Ukraine – Politico
According to Politico, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz will arrive in Brussels on 5 December to try to persuade Belgium’s leadership to support granting a "reparations loan" to Ukraine using frozen Russian assets.
Censor.NET reports this, citing Ukrinform.
"Chancellor Friedrich Merz will travel to Belgium tomorrow evening for a dinner to hold private talks with Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen," a German government spokesman confirmed to Politico.
Merz cancelled his planned trip to Oslo, Norway, in order to travel to the EU capital after the European Commission proposed a package to finance Ukraine’s defence.
De Wever, for his part, continues to oppose this initiative (as is known, the lion’s share of Russia’s frozen assets is managed by the Brussels-based financial depository Euroclear).
De Wever fears that Moscow will take "retaliatory measures" against Belgium both inside Russia and abroad, and is demanding "rock-solid financial guarantees" from EU capitals before he will consider backing the European Commission’s proposal.
EU leaders are to discuss this initiative in Brussels on 18 December.
