O
n December 1, 2025, during a conference in Brussels, Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever challenged his audience: "Who here truly believes that Russia will lose in Ukraine? That is a fable, an illusion," declared the Flemish nationalist. He added that such a defeat – which he described as "undesirable" – could risk destabilizing a nuclear-armed country.
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The Flemish nationalist who became Belgium's prime minister
Two weeks later, another controversy emerged. De Wever opposed the support plan for Ukraine proposed by the European Commission. He deemed the project "fundamentally wrong." The plan sought to use tens of billions of euros from the Russian central bank frozen in Europe, mainly held at Euroclear, the Brussels-based financial depository institution.
