Belgian politicians and those responsible for the country’s financial sector have been the target of an “intimidation campaign orchestrated by Russian intelligence services”, with the aim of “dissuading Brussels” from accepting the European plan to use the 185 billion euros allocated from frozen Russian funds to help Ukraine, he writes the daily “The Guardian”.
At this moment, the Belgian Executive is one of those who have denied to approve the plan, because the use of these funds could lead Belgium to face not only financial retaliation arising from a future court case, but also making the EU a less attractive place for foreign deposits, by establishing a precedent of “confiscation” of assets from governments or private entities if these people or institutions find themselves involved in activities that the EU considers illicit.
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Belgian internal security officials told the British daily that there have already been “deliberate attempts to target key figures at Euroclear”, the fund management institution that holds the majority of frozen Russian assets, but this intimidation is also affecting politicians.
European Union leaders will meet in Brussels on Thursday and Friday, to debate whether to approve the granting of urgent loans to Ukraine, guaranteed by assets from the Russian central bank, which are currently frozen under the various sanctions packages that the Community Executive has been approving.
The Ukrainian economy is on “life support” due to the war effort and without the money that the EU has been sending to Kiev’s coffers, which serve to keep the state and its civilian assistance functions running, the risk of collapse is real. Furthermore, without some kind of injection of funds, the war effort over the next two years, i.e. the defense of Ukraine’s sovereignty, could be in jeopardy.
FPV drone – first person view – operated at an event organized on October 5th by the Armed Forces of Ukraine, in the city of Kamianets
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These last few months of the year have been a sprint for Ukraine and European partners, and time is running out. The European Commission presented two possible solutions to maintain support in 2026-2027, for a total amount of 90 billion euros, but, according to its own estimates According to the Commission, the country’s financing gap for the next two years amounts to around 135.7 billion euros: 52.3 billion euros in macro-financial needs and 83.4 billion euros in military support. “Ukraine’s financing needs remain structurally high because the country bears the double burden of a large-scale war and the initial phases of reconstruction,” said Bohdan Popov, political advisor at United Ukraine, speaking to the “Kyiv Post”.
Authorities believe the campaign is the responsibility of the GRU, Russia’s military intelligence services, although there is debate over the degree of the threat. “They have resorted to clear intimidation tactics,” a European official told the “Guardian”. Threats were allegedly directed at Valérie Urbain, executive director of Euroclear, and other senior managers at the financial services group.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov says use of frozen Russian assets could give the EU “a lot of problems”
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Bart De Wever, Prime Minister of Belgium, said in a recent interview that no one believes that Putin will accept, without any intervention or retaliation, the use of so many millions of assets. “Moscow has already made us know that, in case of use, Belgium and I personally will feel the effects for all eternity”, these De Wever ao “La Libre”.
Belgium says it will only agree to send money to Ukraine if there are guarantees that Euroclear will be fully reimbursed if Russia wins its case in court. These guarantees must be offered by all Member States, which is not certain to result, given that countries such as Hungary and Slovakia, which have opposed not only the financing of Kiev’s budget but also the establishment of the various sanctions packages against Russia that have already been approved.
The President of Russia, Vladimir Putin, has already said publicly that the use of these assets would amount to “theft”, and the Russian central bank announced which will demand 230 billion dollars in compensation from Euroclear in a case filed in Russian courts.
One investigation published by “EUobserver” had already reported threats made to Urbain in 2024 and 2025, and the director had asked for protection, something that was reportedly denied. It was Euroclear executives themselves who had to hire security, the article reads.
Nataliia Shapoval, director of the KSE Institute, a think tank based in Kiev, told the “Guardian” that Ukraine will be able to get through the first quarter of the year without additional support from the EU, but “major problems would arise from the second quarter and, even more, in the second half of the year”, with Kiev probably forced to “cut defense budgets and make difficult choices, which could affect the welfare state”.