N. Peter Kramer’s Weekly Column
Both superpowers list up many economic and geopolitical areas in which they want to work more closely than they do already. But there was another subject!
Mishustin and Li Quang emphasised in the joint press release, that China and Russia are ‘convinced of the need to strictly comply with international obligations regarding the immunities of states and their property’.
No doubts that this refers to the blocked Russian billions at Euroclear in Brussels. The following sentence in the press release says, ‘The confiscation, blocking or any other use of sovereign assets without the owner’s consent is a violation of the basic principle of the sovereign equality of states and destabilises the global financial system.’ It is a subtle warning for Belgium and the De Wever government not to confiscate the Russian billions.
Within the European Council, a fierce political battle is raging to use the blocked billions to support Ukraine, at least that part (140 billon euros) that consists of Russian government bonds. At the recent European summit, Prime Minister Bart de Wever blocked a plan to use that 140 billion as collateral for a loan to Ukraine. But who expects that Ukraine ever can pay back such a loan.
According to De Wever, such an implicit ‘confiscation’ of foreign assets would saddle Euroclear and by extension Belgium, with billions in claims and irreparably damage its reputation as a safe haven. Because Belgium does not want to bear the risks of such a risky operation on its own, De Wever wants iron-clad guarantees and proposed that the risks will be spread over EU countries. No colleague head of state, even not the brave supporters of the idea, did like to give a reaction. Discussion closed. Temporary?
