Von der Leyen threatens more joint debt to force states to agree to help Ukraine with Russian money

BrusselsUrsula von der Leyen continues to pressure member states to allocate Russian funds that They are frozen within the European Union to help Ukraine. Months ago, the President of the European Commission put this initiative on the table, with which she intends to continue sending aid to Kyiv and, at the same time, save Europeans money. However, some member states are reluctant due to the legal doubts it raises, especially Belgium, where the frozen funds are located. Faced with this opposition, however, the EU leader warned this Thursday in a speech to the European Parliament that the alternative could be to issue more common debt, an option that is very unpopular with many European partners, especially states like Germany, the Netherlands, and the Nordic countries, among others.

This is the first time that Von der Leyen has raised the issue of issuing more common debt to help Ukraine, and it remains to be seen to what extent she is truly willing to pursue an initiative like this, which generates animosity among many European partners. Thus, it is primarily intended as a wake-up call to national governments to finally unblock Brussels' proposal so that the EU can use Russian funds to pay for aid to Ukraine. "[Using frozen Russian funds] is the most effective way to support Ukraine's defense and economy," the President of the European Commission insisted. In fact, Von der Leyen has put a third option on the table, suggesting that bilateral loans could be signed between the 27 member states individually and Ukraine. This alternative generally fails to convince Brussels, which always prefers to pursue such initiatives jointly, involving the entire European bloc.

The member state most openly opposed to using the Russian funds frozen in the EU—some €180 billion—to help Ukraine is Belgium. The money is held in a Brussels-based investment fund, Euroclear, and the Belgian government fears that the measure will not respect international law and that it will then have to repay all the Russian money sent by the European bloc to Kyiv.

In this regard, the President of the European Commission has insisted in the European Parliament that the initiative has all the necessary legal guarantees and assures that the entire European Union, not just Belgium, is committed to assuming all its potential consequences, both legal and economic. Furthermore, Von der Leyen points out that this is money that would be returned to Vladimir Putin's regime if, once the war is over, it finances the reconstruction of Ukraine.