Merz fa pressione sul Belgio affinché sostenga il piano di prestiti jumbo dell’UE per l’Ucraina

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen kept up the pressure on Belgium Friday to accede to an EU plan to use Russian central bank assets frozen in Belgium to fund Ukraine.

Merz, who has been a strong advocate of tapping the Russian assets to aid Ukraine, told reporters that he takes the Belgian premier’s concerns “very seriously” and that he would try to address them at Friday’s meeting.

“I don’t want to persuade him, but rather convince him,” he said at a news conference Thursday evening in Berlin after talks with German regional leaders. “If we take this path, we will do so to help Ukraine, possibly for the next two to three years.”

The commission has also floated the option of issuing joint debt in the event that officials can’t reach an agreement to use the immobilized assets. But member states including Germany reject that idea, and the fact that it requires unanimity makes it improbable.