EU relaunches on defence, still negotiating on Russian assets
Green light for a roadmap on nine joint projects, Italy willing to lead them Belgium holds back on frozen Russian assets and negotiations continue Agreement on new forms of flexibility to achieve climate neutrality
from our correspondent Beda Romano
BRUSSELS - The Twenty-Seven agreed on Thursday 23 October on a roadmap for jointly organising the European rearmament by 2030 and on new forms of flexibility on the path to climate neutrality. In a summit that was in many ways constructive, the heads of state and government also gave the go-ahead to the 19th sanctions package against Russia in the midst of the Ukrainian war. More difficult, however, was the question of the use of frozen Russian assets, in the face of Belgium's lingering doubts.
On the defence front, the political commitment of the Twenty-Seven is not trivial. The European Commission's roadmap envisages a series of joint projects - from the anti-drone wall to the missile shield - to be concretely launched between the end of this year and the beginning of next. Italian diplomacy has revealed that Italy has given its readiness to lead all nine projects. The dossier is now the subject of negotiations with Brussels and other capitals.
Quite apart from the difficulties in putting together collaborations between countries and the tensions over which weapons to buy (whether European or American), the importance of the transition in terms of integration is obvious. Certainly, the summit conclusions emphasise in various parts the leading role of member states in a traditionally national field. At the same time, cooperation between governments is put on paper, and will be facilitated by the fact that security is more of a common good than before.
Still on the Russian-Ukrainian front, the Twenty-Seven approved a 19th package of sanctions against Moscow. The measures include in particular a total blockade of Russian liquefied natural gas imports by the end of 2026 and additional measures against the phantom fleet of oil tankers that Moscow uses to circumvent Western sanctions. Present here in Brussels, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky considered this package of measures to be "very important".
The question of frozen Russian assets
On the Russian assets side, the negotiations between the Twenty-Seven took up a large part of the summit. Let's recall the background. The preliminary proposal from Brussels envisages the use of the money frozen at the time of the invasion of Ukraine to support the Ukrainian military efforts. The funds are currently held in the Belgian company Euroclear. The money - EUR 140 billion - would be lent to the Union, which in turn would lend it to Kiev. Before the summit, Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever had called for 'full mutualisation of risks'.
