# Belgium blocks the reparations loan (19 December 2025)

URL: https://allhistories.com/belgium/timeline/2025-belgium-blocks-the-reparations-loan
Themes: Rulers & Governments

Brussels-based Euroclear holds the great majority, around €185–193 billion, of the Russian central bank reserves immobilised in the European Union since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. In late 2025 the European Commission proposed using these funds for a large reparations loan to Ukraine, but Prime Minister Bart De Wever refused unless other states shared the legal and financial risks, fearing Russian lawsuits and retaliation against Belgium. At the European Council of 18–19 December 2025, leaders abandoned the plan and instead agreed to lend Ukraine €90 billion for 2026–2027, financed by joint EU borrowing, while reserving the right to use the immobilised assets for repayment later. De Wever presented the outcome as a victory for the rule of law, while critics accused Belgium of weakening European support for Ukraine.

## Why it matters
The episode showed how Belgium's role as host of a key financial institution gave it unusual weight in European decisions on the war in Ukraine.

Ruler at the Time: [Philippe](https://allhistories.com/belgium/rulers/philippe)

Prime Minister of Belgium: Bart De Wever (Flemish nationalist (N-VA))

## Sources
- [Wikipedia — Euroclear](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euroclear)
- [Wikipedia — Russo-Ukrainian war](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russo-Ukrainian_war)
- [Wikipedia — Bart De Wever](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bart_De_Wever)
- [Associated Press (via News4JAX) — EU leaders agree on 90 billion euro loan to Ukraine](https://www.news4jax.com/news/world/2025/12/19/eu-leaders-agree-on-90-billion-euro-loan-to-ukraine/)
- [Wikipedia — Politics of Belgium (period overview)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Politics_of_Belgium)
- [Wikipedia — Timeline of Belgian history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_Belgian_history)