Global & US Headlines
EU Ministers Rally Behind €140 B Reparations Loan From Frozen Russian Reserves—Belgium Still Says “Not Yet”
On 13 Nov 2025 EU finance chiefs and Commission president von der Leyen named a loan securitised by roughly €140 billion in immobilised Russian central-bank assets as their preferred, but not yet unanimous, method to fund Ukraine’s 2026-27 budget gap.
Focusing Facts
- Plan would replace the cash parked at Belgium-based Euroclear with EU-issued zero-coupon AAA bonds, freeing up up to €140 billion for Kyiv over two years.
- Belgium, host of Euroclear, insists on a legal guarantee that member states would reimburse Moscow within three days if courts order the assets returned.
- The EU simultaneously released a separate €5.9 billion macro-financial loan to Ukraine on 13 Nov 2025.
Context
Great-power wars have often ended with creative (and controversial) asset grabs: the 1919 Treaty of Versailles levied 132 billion gold marks on Germany, and in 1991 the UN Compensation Commission channelled Iraqi oil revenue to Kuwait. Freezing a G-20 central bank’s reserves and then borrowing against them, however, breaks new ground in sovereign-immunity norms established since the 1945 Bretton Woods order. It signals three longer-arc trends: (1) the weaponisation of financial plumbing as a tool of modern conflict; (2) the EU’s slow drift toward fiscal mutualisation, using Brussels-issued paper to fund geopolitical aims; and (3) the erosion of the dollar-euro centred reserve system as non-Western states seek insulation from similar seizures. Whether Belgium’s legal scruples stall the plan or not, the debate itself matters: in a century, historians may mark 2022-2025 as the moment when central-bank reserves ceased to be untouchable, reshaping how states calculate both war and peace financing.
Perspectives
International and wire-service outlets supportive of EU Commission
International and wire-service outlets supportive of EU Commission — Present the reparations loan based on frozen Russian assets as the most effective, broadly supported solution for funding Ukraine and deterring Moscow. Echo the European Commission’s framing and minimise discussion of the legal exposure or political push-back, reflecting reliance on EU institutional sources and a pro-Ukraine narrative.
European policy media highlighting Belgium’s objections
European policy media highlighting Belgium’s objections — Stress Belgium’s resistance to the reparations loan, underscoring legal liability fears and stalled talks despite mounting pressure from other member states. By foregrounding Belgian officials’ concerns, they risk overstating the durability of opposition and downplaying the wider consensus forming around the plan.