Euractiv has learned about the conflict between Callas and Belgium on the issue of frozen assets of the Russian Federation

Tension is growing between the head of the European Diplomacy, Kaya Kallas, and Belgian politicians over plans to use frozen Russian assets. This was reported on November 26 by Euractiv, citing sources in the European Parliament.

According to the portal, during the meeting in Strasbourg, Callas took a tough stance, advocating the use of Russian assets for loans to Ukraine. Belgium opposes such plans, fearing legal consequences.

The meeting participants noted that Callas spoke about Belgium in a "condescending tone," and some took her speech as a message to "stop whining." The head of EU diplomacy also referred to her Estonian origin, saying that she supposedly understands Russia better than the Belgians.

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The day before, the head of the European Commission (EC), Ursula von der Leyen, expressed her intention to discuss the expropriation of frozen assets of Russia with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio at a video conference of the Coalition of the Willing. In addition, von der Leyen added that the issue of influencing the Russian economy would also be considered during the meeting.

Belgium's Minister of Defense and Foreign Trade, Theo Franken, said at the same time that Belgium had convinced Italy of the risks of expropriating frozen assets of Russia. He noted that Belgium would not seize the assets of the Russian Federation and transfer them to Ukraine without European guarantees against lawsuits and demands for a refund.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova warned on November 23 that the EU would expect a "painful response" in case of any action to confiscate Russian assets, recalling that there was no legal way to take other people's funds.

All important news is on the Izvestia channel in the MAX messenger.