The Czech Republic approves additional financial aid for Ukraine. According to Prime Minister Babiš, the discussion is about how to get the money, including a proposal to use Russian frozen assets.
According to Prime Minister Andrej Babiš, the Czech Republic does not question further financial aid for Ukraine. According to him, the debate is about how to secure the money. The Czech Republic would support the use of frozen Russian assets under certain conditions – Belgium’s concerns must be taken into account and guarantees provided by member states must be voluntary. Babiš said this on Wednesday after the meeting of the Committee for European Affairs in the Chamber of Deputies of the Parliament of the Czech Republic, reports TASR reporter in Prague.
“Of course, we support further financial aid. The debate is about how we will secure the money for Ukraine. We think that we can secure it as it was in the past, that is, that the EU will collect it on the financial market,” said Babiš.
Conditions of assistance
Regarding the use of frozen Russian assets, he emphasized that the Czech Republic will not give any guarantees. “If it were to happen that member states want to use Russian assets, we will not be responsible for it in any way. We will not burden our budgets here in the future,” he pointed out.
However, according to Babiš, it would make more sense if the frozen Russian assets were used for reparations after the end of the war. When he also met with Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever in Brussels last week, he is said to have explained his country’s concerns to him and claimed that once the EU reaches out to frozen Russian assets, Russia’s reaction may be to seize all the assets of EU member states, banks or businesses.
Proposals of the Commission
The use of blocked Russian money is one of the European Commission’s proposals for financing aid to Ukraine. The EU would provide Kiev with a reparation loan, which would be secured by Russian assets. They are mainly located in Belgium and Luxembourg. Belgian Foreign Minister Maxime Prévot argued that the reparation loan was the worst option to secure the finances because it was risky and had never been used before.
