Euroclear boss warns EU over plan for Russian assets
Euroclear’s chief executive, Valerie Urbain, has issued a sharp warning over EU plans to use frozen Russian state assets as backing for a major loan to Ukraine. Speaking on Belgian radio on Friday, she said the proposal “is not realistic” and could “destabilise the international financial system” given Euroclear’s central role.
Around 180 billion euros in Russian funds are currently blocked at the Brussels-based settlement house. Urbain stressed that Russia would retain a legal right to reclaim the money, even if it were taken off Euroclear’s balance sheet. Using it, she said, would create “a very large imbalance” and may amount to “confiscation”.
She warned of serious risks for Belgium too, should Euroclear become insolvent or Moscow launch legal and economic retaliation, including seizing Belgian assets in Russia.
Urbain repeated that if the EU forces Euroclear to release the funds, the company will challenge the decision in court. She argued the billions would be better deployed as part of future peace negotiations.
The European Commission wants to raise 90 billion euros for Ukraine by leveraging the frozen assets, but Belgium has refused to back the plan.
The remarks come as prime minister Bart De Wever is set to meet German chancellor Friedrich Merz and European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen in Brussels on Friday. Merz has publicly urged the EU to use the Russian assets and says all member states should share the risks, but Belgium remains unconvinced. De Wever said he hopes for a “fruitful conversation” but insisted he will not bow to German-European pressure.
Belgium has also come under fire after a remark De Wever made earlier this week in a French-language lecture was published by La Libre Belgique. Discussing the broader geopolitical stakes, he argued that it is an “illusion” to believe Russia will be defeated outright: “It is even not desirable that it loses and instability arises in a country with nuclear weapons.”
The sentence has spread widely on X and Telegram. It has fed an existing wave of criticism from pro-Ukrainian voices accusing Belgium of weakening European unity. Belgian officials stress that De Wever’s full argument warned against unpredictable nuclear escalation and highlighted the legal and economic risks of confiscating Russian state funds.
The headquarters of the Euroclear Group financial institute in Brussels © BELGA PHOTO NICOLAS MAETERLINCK