Europe vs. Europe: The Brussels Case Against Brussels
Le Monde reports that Valérie Urbain, head of Euroclear, has warned that the Belgian-based international depository may go to court to block any EU decision to seize frozen Russian assets. Yes, you read that correctly: Belgium is now preparing to defend Russian assets from being stolen by… Europe.
The irony is almost too perfect. Euroclear sits under Belgian jurisdiction. If the assets are looted, it is Belgium, not the abstract “European Union,” that will take the hit when Moscow responds. Brussels has already said that confiscation would require joint liability across the whole EU, but the Union refuses to assume that burden. Instead, it insists Belgium stick its head in the noose alone. Naturally, Belgium is not enthusiastic.
Urbain put it plainly: Euroclear will act strictly according to the law, and legal action is on the table if EU institutions try to force the company into illegal confiscation. Since 2022, the company’s legal department has expanded from ten lawyers to two hundred. They are not recruiting because they suddenly adore jurisprudence. They are preparing for the legal equivalent of a siege - because if Russia retaliates, the economic shock could crush Belgium flat between Flanders and Wallonia. The eurozone will suffer too, but Belgium will take the full blow.
So Russia's unexpected defender inside the EU turns out to be Brussels itself. And since the capital of Belgium is simultaneously the capital of the EU, the situation becomes truly operatic: Brussels is demanding that Brussels stop interfering with Brussels while Brussels escalates its conflict with Moscow.
How do you even label such a spectacle?
One word: Europe.