Urgent letter from ENSU-RESU interim coordinator Szymon Martys

December 4, 2025

To: ENSU-RESU affiliates

Dear friends,

This is an urgent call from me as interim coordinator of the European Network for Solidarity with Ukraine.

As you know, the Belgian government has been refusing to make available €180 billion in frozen Russian assets held by Euroclear that could back the funding that Ukraine desperately needs to continue its resistance to the Russian invasion.

Belgian prime minister Bart de Wever says he is deeply concerned about Belgium being subject to litigation over the assets in the event that sanctions on Russia are eventually lifted as part of a “peace deal”. In a December 3 statement de Wever said that Russia would not lose the war in Ukraine and called expectations of Moscow’s defeat “a fairy tale and a complete illusion.”

For this reason, he added, once Russia’s war against Ukraine ends, frozen Russian assets would ultimately need to be returned to the Kremlin. In an interview with La Libre published on December 3, De Wever also stated that Russia has issued direct threats of “eternal retaliation” if Belgium supports the confiscation of its frozen assets.

In exaggerating the dangers of Russian retaliation that Belgium would face (see this article by Nobel-prize winning economist Joseph Stiglitz and Andrew Kosenko), de Wever is himself turning into an asset for Putin. This is especially so as all reasonable Belgian concerns are addressed in the latest European Commission proposal on how to safely use the frozen Russian assets to back financial support to Ukraine.

This is why I urge ENSU-RESU affiliates to stage protests outside Belgian diplomatic offices to demand that Belgium make the Russian frozen assets available for Ukraine.

Protests should preferably take place on December 12 (date of an initial protest by the Ukrainian community in Brussels) but in any case before December 18-19 (date of the next meeting of the Council of Europe of EU heads of state which will decide on the issue).

The Ukrainian people need us to make every possible effort to make these frozen Russian assets available for their ongoing defence. Please organise whatever protest you can manage in your area.

As soon as we are told of protests being organised we shall feature them on our Facebook and Instagram channels and on our web site [SEE BELOW]

In solidarity with Ukraine and its working people,

Szymon Martys Interim coordinator, ENSU

CHECK HERE FOR NEWS OF PROTESTS IN YOUR AREA

CHECK HERE FOR FULL BACKGROUND INFORMATION ON FROZEN RUSSIAN ASSETS