Belgium against confiscation of frozen Russian assets

He said such a move would jeopardize Belgium's long-standing reputation as a financial services center.

Prevost said his government remains firmly opposed to the idea, despite European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen's statement a few days ago about reopening the issue.

Frankly... confiscating these Russian sovereign assets is not really an option for Belgium.

As part of Western sanctions in response to a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, about 200 billion euros of Russian funds remain blocked.

Most of the money is held in the Euroclear depository, which is subject to EU financial markets legislation.

Prevost said that breaking the rules, even in the event of an existential war, would put Belgium and the EU at risk, as financiers might reconsider investing in them in the future.

"It would send a very bad signal to other countries in the world. Some of them also have assets, sovereign assets, in Brussels or elsewhere in Europe," he said, adding that the government had "considered" confiscating the frozen assets and concluded that it would "undermine" confidence in the euro.

Meanwhile, the EU and other allies of Ukraine, such as the United Kingdom, are pushing for this idea.

"We are also advancing work on the use of frozen Russian assets, because it is clear that the predator must pay for what he has done," Leyen said.

An alternative plan proposed by the UK is a potential transfer of assets to a separate investment fund — an idea that Prevot also rules out.

"Therefore, I express the opinion that Belgium will not take this risk," the minister said.