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Von der Leyen seeking other options
The EU Commission President is sticking to her guns, La Stampa comments approvingly:
“Despite the sceptical stance of the European Central Bank (ECB) and strong opposition from the Belgian government, Ursula von der Leyen has decided to continue pursuing the plan to use frozen Russian assets. … She has proposed a mechanism [reparation loans] that can be approved by a qualified majority of member states, thus circumventing potential vetoes. As an alternative, the Commission President proposed issuing common debt to finance the loan to Ukraine, with the EU budget as collateral. However, this would require the unanimous approval of all 27 member states.”
Send a clear message to Putin
Europe should stop dithering and finally make use of the frozen Russian funds, demands the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung:
“Chancellor Merz is right: it’s about much more than just financing. Mobilising these billions will send an unmistakable signal to Putin that Europeans are resolute and united in defending their freedom. Those who are not already defending it in Ukraine, but prefer to argue about liability risks, may soon have to fight on their own soil in the foreseeable future. Putin has now openly threatened to wage more than just a hybrid war against Europe. And who would want to have to count on Trump then?”
Finally thinking strategically
Europe should now dig deep into its own pockets, says The Economist:
“If Europe will not, or cannot, deploy the frozen assets, it must use its own finances – soon. That means common borrowing: Eurobonds, strategic-autonomy bonds, whatever label is politically palatable. Ukraine needs predictable, multi-year financing: a four- or five-year package it can count on to keep its budget afloat, manufacture shells and rebuild power plants. Europe’s current dribs-and-drabs approach is anything but strategic. It forces Ukraine to live from one donor meeting to the next.”
Robin Hood plan needs legal cover
De Morgen considers Belgium’s objections to releasing Russian assets justified and demands legal guarantees from the EU:
“Break open Putin’s piggy bank – Ursula von der Leyen’s Robin Hood-like scheme sounds both simple and spectacular. The billions in frozen Russian funds held by Euroclear in Brussels are to be used to finance the loan to Ukraine. But isn’t it a bad sign that weeks later there is still no legally watertight plan? Pointing a finger at stubborn Belgium is too easy.”
Belgium exposing itself to moral criticism
Le Soir points out that Belgium could suddenly find itself in the company of Hungary and Slovakia:
“If on 18 and 19 December Europeans vote by a qualified majority against Belgium in favour of the reparations loan system, as appears to be their intention, our country would – probably alongside Hungary and Slovakia – end up in the camp of those who have not done everything possible to help Ukraine and thus to protect Europe from a tragic domino effect. Belgium would be reproached for having put the security of its ‘narrow self‑interests’ above the survival of a population that has been fighting for nearly four years – also on our behalf.”