The European Commission must find alternative ways to support the country, Babis, who takes office on Monday, said on social networks. His country will not provide any guarantees. Hungarian Prime Minister Orban also announced resistance.
The EU heads of state and government want to discuss a complex loan program for Ukraine next week. Permanently frozen Russian assets should be used for this purpose. The discussions on December 18th will also focus on guarantees for Belgium, where the majority of the money is located. EU Economic Commissioner Dombrovskis said that to allay concerns, solid guarantees were being prepared for Belgium.
On Monday, Ukrainian President Zelensky is expected in Berlin for talks with Chancellor Merz. Germany supports the planned loan to Ukraine and would reportedly provide guarantees worth 50 billion euros.
EU decides to permanently freeze Russian assets
Yesterday the EU created an important basis for the use of Russian state assets for Ukraine. 25 of the 27 member states voted to indefinitely prohibit the transfer of funds set up in the EU back to Russia – i.e. to freeze the assets permanently. Only Hungary and Slovakia voted against it. However, unanimity was not required here because the approving states referred to Article 122 of the EU Treaty, according to which a qualified majority is sufficient in the event of serious economic problems.
Until now, the freeze on assets worth 210 billion euros had to be extended unanimously by the member states every six months.
After the decision, EU foreign policy chief Kallas said the decision ensured that up to 210 billion euros in Russian funds remained on EU soil – unless Russia made full reparations to Ukraine for the damage caused by the war. This increases the pressure on Moscow to negotiate seriously. Chancellor Merz said he was pleased about a clear signal of European sovereignty. He pointed out that in the end even the initially critical countries Italy and Belgium agreed.
This message was sent on December 13th, 2025 on the Deutschlandfunk program.