European governments failed to reach an agreement on transferring frozen Russian assets to Ukraine following the summit in Brussels, which was a serious blow to German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Politico reports.
Instead, countries had to agree on an emergency backup plan based on joint EU debt, which was promoted for several weeks by Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever and was considered unlikely until the final hours before the agreement was reached. In another blow to EU unity, three countries—Hungary, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic—will not participate in it.
"Ultimately, after today, our support for Ukraine is guaranteed," said Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen after the summit concluded.
Although the agreement allows everyone to claim victory, it is not the solution that Germany and the European Commission advocated for ahead of this summit.
"Of course, some didn’t like it… they want to punish Putin by taking his money," De Wever said, referring to the original plan to use Russian assets. "But politics is not an emotional job, and rationality prevailed."
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