67% of Belgians oppose using Russian assets for loan to Ukraine: Report

ISTANBUL

Some two-thirds of Belgians reject an EU plan to use frozen Russian assets to fund a loan to Ukraine, according to a new survey by major Belgian media outlets.

Supporting Prime Minister Bart De Wever’s position, 67% of Belgians said the government should not agree to release the frozen Russian assets, according to the survey done jointly by RTL Info, IPSOS, and Le Soir, whose results were released on Monday.

Concerns about the potential systemic risk for Belgium are thought to lie behind most of the opposition to the plan.

Several EU member states, including Belgium, have raised legal concerns, noting that most of the contested assets are held at Euroclear in Brussels, the Belgian capital and de facto seat of the EU.

Some 22% of Belgians support using the Russian assets, while 11% said they were not interested in the issue.

Russia’s Central Bank called the plan illegal and reserved the right to take any measures necessary to protect its interests.

On Friday, the bloc moved to “indefinitely immobilize” Russian assets, while EU leaders are set to decide on allocating the funds to Ukraine at a two-day Brussels summit starting Thursday.

• Belgium
• EU
• frozen Russian assets
• Ukraine