Belgium is demanding “independent” and “autonomous” guarantees from EU countries in exchange for its support for a loan to Ukraine using frozen Russian assets, Euractiv reports.
The documents, which are currently being discussed by EU ambassadors, come amid frantic efforts by the bloc to persuade Belgium to back the so-called reparations loan ahead of a crucial European Council summit in Brussels next week.
Euroclear, a securities depository headquartered in Brussels, holds the vast majority of the EUR210 billion in frozen assets that will be used to support Kyiv’s military efforts, making Belgium a key player in the EU negotiations.
In a series of amendments to the Commission’s legal proposal, which was first circulated to EU ambassadors last week, Belgium notes that the guarantees must be “independent and autonomous so that they remain in force even if the loan is declared invalid.”
Other key Belgian demands include: other EU states covering potential legal costs that Moscow may claim from any member state; EU capitals refraining from concluding new investment agreements with Russia and cancelling all existing agreements; and a number of other measures to protect Belgium from potential reprisals by Moscow.
Luxembourg and Belgium signed a bilateral investment agreement with the then USSR in 1989, which has not been revoked to date.
In addition, it requires that Euroclear itself “not be liable” for providing the reparations loan, and that its “directors be liable only in cases of gross negligence.”
The Russian Central Bank announced that it would file a lawsuit against Euroclear in a Moscow court on Friday.
Belgium has repeatedly criticized the Commission for continuing with the loan program and has called on other EU countries to support the issuance of joint debt obligations instead. However, the latter option is currently being blocked by Hungary, which is also strongly opposed to the loan program.
Ukrainians’ attitude towards Belgium is mostly positive, although a significant portion of respondents take a neutral position. This is evidenced by the results of a nationwide sociological survey conducted by Active Group in collaboration with Experts Club in August 2025.
According to the results, 54.7% of Ukrainians have a positive attitude towards Belgium (35.3% — mostly positive, 19.3% — completely positive). Only 2.7% of citizens expressed a negative attitude (0.3% — mostly negative, 0.3% — completely negative). At the same time, 43.0% of respondents remain neutral, and 2.3% said they do not have enough information about the country.
“Belgium is perceived by Ukrainians as an important member of the European Union and NATO, a country that consistently supports Ukraine on the international stage. At the same time, its relative remoteness and lack of deep historical ties account for the high proportion of neutral assessments,” explained Active Group founder Oleksandr Pozniy.
In turn, co-founder of Experts Club Maksim Urakin drew attention to the economic component of bilateral relations:
“In the first half of 2025, trade turnover between Ukraine and Belgium amounted to more than $584 million. Ukrainian exports amounted to about $235 million, while imports from Belgium exceeded $348 million. This resulted in a negative balance of $113.8 million, which highlights the Ukrainian market’s dependence on Belgian goods,” he emphasized.
The study is part of a broader project aimed at examining the international sympathies and antipathies of Ukrainians in 2025.
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ACTIVE GROUP, BELGIUM, DIPLOMACY, EXPERTS CLUB, Pozniy, SOCIOLOGY, TRADE, URAKIN
A large-scale international technical assistance project, the Belgian Initiative for the Recovery of Ukraine (BE-Relieve Ukraine), implemented by the Belgian government through the development agency Enabel, has officially started in Ukraine, the press service of the Ministry of Community and Territorial Development reports.
“BE-Relieve Ukraine is not just about technical assistance. It is a project aimed at a partnership between Ukraine and Belgium in the reconstruction of our country. The main principle of our cooperation is “To rebuild better than before.” BE-Relieve Ukraine will last until the end of 2028. During this time, Ukraine will receive €150 million from the Belgian Government to restore and maintain critical infrastructure, prepare for winter, and create an inclusive environment,” said Kostyantyn Kovalchuk, Deputy Minister of Communities and Territories Development.
The main areas of the project are the modernization of energy infrastructure, reconstruction of medical facilities, renovation of school and vocational education infrastructure, as well as promoting reforms and strengthening ties with Belgian partners.
Priority activities include the transfer of 212 generators for educational institutions, mobile boilers for hospitals and utilities, and the repair of medical infrastructure.
As part of a partnership project with OKKO Group, Agrotrade Agricultural Holding shipped 24.4 thousand tons of rapeseed by sea from Odesa to Ghent (Belgium), the press service of the agricultural holding reported on Facebook.
According to the report, half of this cargo – about 12 thousand tons – is grain grown on the fields of the agricultural holding in 2024. The rest of the cargo belongs to OKKO Group.
“This shipment is a big step forward for us, as we used to export small batches of rapeseed by sea – 3-5 thousand tons each. This year, we agreed with OKKO that we would make a partnership project, share the risks and ship the vessel together. This has many advantages, in particular, in terms of saving on ship freight. There were many difficult moments during the shipment, but we successfully dealt with them. In addition, the economy was one of the best this year compared to other sales,” said Andrii But, Director of the Foreign Trade Department of Agrotrade.
At the same time, he noted the high quality of rapeseed grown and sold by the agricultural holding. In particular, the oil content in the grain is 45%, while the basic indicators are usually 40-42%.
Agrotrade Group is a vertically integrated holding company with a full agro-industrial cycle (production, processing, storage and trade of agricultural products). It cultivates over 70 thousand hectares of land in Chernihiv, Sumy, Poltava and Kharkiv regions. Its main crops are sunflower, corn, winter wheat, soybeans and rapeseed. It has its own network of elevators with a simultaneous storage capacity of 570 thousand tons.
The group also produces hybrid seeds of corn and sunflower, barley, and winter wheat. In 2014, a seed plant with a capacity of 20 thousand tons of seeds per year was built on the basis of Kolos seed farm (Kharkiv region). In 2018, Agrotrade launched its own brand Agroseeds on the market.
Vsevolod Kozhemiako is the founder and CEO of Agrotrade.
OKKO Group unites more than 10 diversified businesses in production, trade, construction, insurance, maintenance and other services. The flagship company of the group is Galnaftogaz, which operates one of the largest filling stations in Ukraine under the OKKO brand, with about 400 filling stations.
The group’s founder and ultimate beneficiary is Vitaliy Antonov.
Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal has signed an agreement with Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Kroo to finance EUR 150 million worth of recovery projects in Ukraine.
“In particular, the funds will be used to restore energy and social infrastructure in Kyiv and Chernihiv regions,” Shmyhal wrote on his telegram channel following the online meeting.
According to him, the signed agreement simplifies the implementation of joint programs and projects, and will contribute to the recovery, economic and social development of Ukraine.
Under the agreement, the Belgian development agency Enabel will open a representative office in Ukraine.
Ukraine will play its third and final group stage match at the 2024 UEFA European Football Championship against Belgium on Wednesday.
The match will start at 19:00 Kyiv time at the stadium in Stuttgart, and will be officiated by a refereeing team from England led by Anthony Taylor.
According to the Ukrainian Football Association (UAF), the starting lineup will include: Anatoliy Trubin, Vitaliy Mykolenko, Oleksandr Tymchyk, Mykola Matvienko, Oleksandr Svatok, Ilya Zabarny, Volodymyr Brazhko, Mykola Shaparenko, Hryhoriy Sudakov, Artem Dovbyk. Roman Yaremchuk.
As reported, Ukraine lost the first match to Romania with a score of 0:3, and in the second match it beat Slovakia with a score of 2:1.
In Group E, all four teams have three points before the last round and have a chance to reach the playoffs.
