Belgium suspected of misappropriating income from Russian assets: discontent is growing in the EU

The European Union has accused Belgium of misappropriating proceeds from frozen Russian assets that were supposed to be sent to Ukraine. Diplomats say the country may have been transferring taxes on the funds to its own budget, violating its obligations.

This is reported by Politico .

European Union countries are expressing disappointment with Belgium’s opposition to the decision to create a reparations loan for Ukraine from frozen Russian assets. Officially, the Belgian government says it fears possible legal risks if the Kremlin tries to return these assets.

However, five diplomatic sources from different countries told reporters that the reasons for the resistance may be more pragmatic. In their opinion, Belgium is holding back Russian funds, wanting to continue to receive taxes on these assets. This is a 25% corporate tax levied on Russian assets frozen in the Euroclear depository.

According to diplomats, Belgium has been transferring these tax revenues to the national budget, thereby violating international obligations. In the event of continued resistance, European Union member states are ready to publicly raise the issue of possible misappropriation of revenues on the eve of the European Council summit.

European states are seeking to clarify two key aspects: whether Belgium actually misappropriated the revenues and whether it transferred tax revenues to Ukraine as alleged. If the suspicions are confirmed, the situation could escalate into a major political scandal.

“In light of this behavior, the question arises as to whether Belgium really understood that the security of Europe was at stake… And given this data, there are doubts as to whether Belgium is fulfilling its promise to direct its windfall tax revenues to Ukraine,” a senior European diplomat told reporters.

Diplomats also rely on data from independent institutions. In particular, the Kiel Institute estimated the amount of funds that Belgium transferred to Ukraine and paid as financial assistance at 3.44 billion euros for the period from February 24, 2022 to August 31, 2025. At the same time, in 2024 alone, Belgium received 1.7 billion euros in tax revenues from frozen Russian assets.

Transparency issues have been ongoing since 2024. Back then, allies had already accused Belgium of using revenues from Russian assets to finance its own budget. At the time, the country’s government said that all funds would be transferred to a special financial instrument of the European Union and the G7 for Ukraine, but this promise was never fulfilled.

The Belgian government denies the allegations and claims that all taxes on Russian assets are being sent to Ukraine. However, officials avoid directly answering the question of whether these funds have been fully transferred.

“Tax revenues were already part of their domestic budget, and they didn’t want to give them up,” another senior European diplomat told reporters.

Belgium also notes that the country has provided Ukraine with about 1 billion euros in military and other assistance since 2022. However, critics believe that this does not remove the question of the opaque use of proceeds from Russian assets frozen in Euroclear.

By the way, the European Union is preparing a new tranche of defense support for Ukraine worth about 80 million euros. The funds are due to arrive in early 2026 and will be generated from excess profits received from frozen Russian assets .

It was previously reported that negotiations between the European Commission and the Belgian government on a €140 billion loan to Ukraine have failed. Belgium is demanding financial guarantees from other EU countries to protect itself from possible lawsuits over the use of frozen Russian assets.

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