EU talks on using Russian assets to fund reparations loan for Ukraine enter final stages ahead of crunch meeting – Europe live

Negotiations among EU leaders continue ahead of critical European Council meeting in Brussels on Thursday

If you want to test various scenarios ahead of tomorrow’s debate on Russian frozen assets, you can use this handy calculator to see what is needed to get the proposal passed under the so-called qualified majority vote, or QMV (expect to hear a lot about it in the next 48 hours).

As we know, the opposition is led by Belgium and its outspoken prime minister Bart de Wever, with Bulgaria, Czech Republic, and Malta also against. Italy has some doubts too (at least for now?), and Hungary, traditionally, is against anything that would help Ukraine.

Slovakia appears to be leaning towards against too, with prime minister Robert Fico saying this morning that he won’t support anything that prolongs the war and would increase military spending.

Last week Fico said “I will not support anything, even if we have to sit in Brussels until the New Year, which would lead to support for Ukraine’s military expenditures.”