Italy, along with Belgium, Malta and Bulgaria, opposed the European Commission’s plan to use around 210 billion euros in frozen assets of the Russian Central Bank to provide compensation loans to Ukraine.
According to Politico, the four countries have asked the Commission in an internal document to explore less risky alternatives, such as issuing joint EU debt or temporary loans to finance Ukraine’s needs.
The opposition came as the European Union activated emergency powers on Friday (December 12) to freeze Russian assets indefinitely to pave the way for loans to Ukraine.
However, the four countries stressed that the vote for an indefinite freeze in no way predetermines the decision on the use of these assets, and that this issue should be decided at the level of the Union’s leaders at the December 18-19 meeting.
Belgium, which holds around €185 billion of these assets at Euroclear, is most concerned about potential legal and financial liability in the event of Russian claims.
These differences have seriously challenged the final agreement on a large loan to Ukraine on the eve of the EU summit.
