‘Future of Europe’ at stake with Von der Leyen and Merz desperate to persuade Belgian PM to allow use of frozen Russian assets
Germany’s chancellor, Friedrich Merz, will meet the European Commission chief, Ursula von der Leyen, and Belgium’s prime minister, Bart De Wever, for emergency talks on Friday as the EU races to save its sorely needed financing plan for Ukraine.
The three leaders will dine in private in Brussels, a German government spokesperson said on Thursday, as Belgian officials continued to express strong opposition to the scheme, which involves the unprecedented use of frozen Russian assets.
With Russia’s attacks intensifying, Washington pushing for a peace deal that favours Moscow and Kyiv fast running out of money and Europe struggling for influence at US-led talks, the bloc must find a solution or suffer a major blow to its credibility.
Two weeks before a crucial 18 December EU summit, von der Leyen on Wednesday proposed two main options for the EU to raise the tens of billions of euros Ukraine needs to keep funding its struggling military and basic services against Russia’s war.
