Belgium will give the nod for the Commission to put forward a legal proposal outlining the €140 billion Ukraine loan.
EU leaders are set to instruct the European Commission to design a legal proposal to use billions of euros in Russian frozen state assets to fund a massive loan to Ukraine, after Belgium signaled it would not stand in the way.
The controversial proposal, if adopted, could release up to €140 billion to fund Ukraine’s war effort for another two to three years, using Russian state assets that were immobilized after its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
The European Commission, which has executive power in the EU, first floated the idea in September, but has been waiting for the explicit blessing of European heads of state and government before it moves ahead with a concrete proposal. This is likely to come when the 27 EU leaders hold their quarterly European Council meeting in Brussels on Thursday.
Who does the money go to? I know they’re saying Ukraine, but they need bullets not cash. Do Ukraine then buy the arms from EU? If it’s a loan then does the EU stand to double their money PLUS interest?
The money in the end will most likely go to Europe, as in is given to Ukraine who use it to buy European weapons is my guess. At least until the war is over
The way the article is written is that Europe gives Ukraine a loan that is secured by Russian assets, meaning of Ukraine defaults, Russian assets are transferred to the EU.
€140 billion Ukraine loan
:-/
Of course, the game that gets played is tit-for-tat. Russians in possession of EU assets will do the same, and we’ll get an earful of how this is illegal and violates the norms, etc. Except a flurry of lawsuits in courts that have no jurisdiction, followed by a bunch of verdicts that can’t be enforced.
Meanwhile, Ukrainians will be stuck paying interest to… the EU, I guess? For a loan against Russian assets? And they’ll be paying that back with what, exactly?
Smedly Butler’s words ring eternal. War is, indeed, a racket.
The beauty of a loan secured against someone else’s assets is that it doesn’t harm you if you default. Russia could still leave Ukraine and propose how they repay Ukraine for damages, which would also cover these loans; in return, they’d receive their assets back.
Then all the reparations go to Ukraine’s creditors and the countryfolk who fought to defend their homeland get it repo’d out from under them.
Repo means repossessed, which is only applicable to items purchased under a credit (e.g. you take out a credit to but a car, can’t pay it, the car gets repo’d); also they only happen on unsecured loans, it’d be the security that would be transferred to the lender, which in this case is Russian, not Ukrainian.
