He made the statement during a discussion at the World Economic Forum in Davos.
De Wever said the Russian Central Bank’s funds are not “frozen” but rather “immobilized.” Most of them are held in Belgium, specifically in the Euroclear depository.
“You cannot simply take someone’s money" he said.
"We are not at war with Russia. Europe is not at war with Russia. You cannot just confiscate money — that would be an act of war. This has never happened in history. Even during World War II, immobilized funds were never confiscated. This would be the first such case in history, and consequences will follow.”
He stressed that the assets will remain immobilized until the end of the war. Once a peace agreement is reached, the issue of the assets will be discussed.
“ If it were up to me, every single euro of that money would be used for reparations and for the reconstruction of Ukraine. I would be very sad to see even one euro returned to Moscow," he said.
"But we must respect international law. The decision will be taken at that moment. Between now and then, Europe will finance Ukraine’s war effort — as it should — because Ukrainians are fighting for all of us.”
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen earlier failed to persuade De Wever to allow Ukraine to receive a reparations-style loan backed by Russian assets frozen in Belgium.
Germany is prepared to guarantee 25% of the amount in order to convince Belgium to unlock the billions for Ukraine, but De Wever wants broader guarantees from all EU countries so that Belgium is fully protected from legal and financial risks.
The Belgian government favors providing assistance to Ukraine through a joint European loan, which De Wever described as the simplest and cheapest option.
However, this approach requires unanimous approval from all 27 EU member states, while the European Commission’s plan to use Russian assets requires only a qualified majority.
At the same time, Hungary has already blocked a potential decision on issuing eurobonds to finance aid to Ukraine.
Meanwhile, the leaders of seven EU member states sent a letter to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President António Costa expressing strong support for a reparations-style loan for Ukraine.
The letter was signed by Estonian Prime Minister Kristen Michal, Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo, Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin, Latvian Prime Minister Evika Siliņa, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, and Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda.
Amid this, media reports emerged that France is keeping secret the names of private banks holding €18 billion (almost $20 billion) in Russian assets.
Japan, meanwhile, initially rejected the European Union’s proposal to join the plan to use frozen Russian assets to finance aid to Ukraine, effectively undermining hopes for global support for the initiative. The Japanese government later denied reports that Tokyo rejected the proposal.
At the same time, G7 countries said they were ready to consider the confiscation of all frozen Russian assets.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Yuliia Svyrydenko commented on the G7 position regarding Russian assets.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in turn, said that if the reparations-style loan is not approved, another format will be developed.
European Union countries are preparing to accelerate a decision on “indefinite” freezing of Russian assets in order to prevent a Hungarian veto.
Meanwhile, media reports said that a French banker with close ties to Russia and working with Euroclear had allegedly issued threats to Euroclear’s CEO over the reparations loan.
Amid this, the EU reportedly warned Belgium of a “Hungarian scenario” if its prime minister blocks the reparations loan for Ukraine.
In addition, the EU has approved a mechanism that will allow it to bypass Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and keep Russian assets frozen.
Finally, Russia’s central bank has filed a lawsuit against Euroclear.