Belgian Foreign Minister Maxime Prevot delivered sharp criticism of the European Union’s handling of the war on Gaza and cautioned against proposals to seize frozen Russian central bank assets, warning of dire economic consequences.

EU failings on Gaza

In an interview for AFP on Friday, Prevot accused the EU of failing to live up to its responsibilities during "Israel’s" war on Gaza.

“It is undeniable, we are not going to bury our heads in the sand, that the European Union at this stage is not living up to its responsibilities in this enormous humanitarian crisis,” he said.

Belgium has announced it will recognize the State of Palestine at this month’s UN General Assembly, while also imposing sanctions on Israeli ministers. The recognition will take effect via royal decree once two conditions are met: the release of Israeli captives held by Hamas and Hamas’ exclusion from Palestinian governance.

Prevot said the move was meant to send a “strong political and diplomatic signal” to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government and stressed, “There is a moral obligation, and there is also a legal imperative to act; countries are parties to international conventions and treaties that oblige them to take all necessary measures to prevent genocide from occurring.”

France, under President Emmanuel Macron, has also pledged to recognize Palestine at the UN summit, and over a dozen other Western countries have urged others to follow suit.

Risks of seizing Russian assets

Also in the interview, Prevot commented on the risks of seizing Russian assets. He warned against calls from hawkish EU states to seize Russia’s frozen central bank assets to finance Ukraine.

Since 2022, the EU has frozen about €200 billion of Russian assets, most of them held at Euroclear in Belgium. Some have proposed seizing or reinvesting the assets to generate more funds for Kiev.

Prevot rejected such moves, saying, “For Belgium, confiscating Russian sovereign assets is not an option. Such a confiscation, motivated by a political decision rather than a legal or judicial one, would be likely to cause a terrible systemic shock across all European financial markets, deal a severe blow to the credibility of the euro, and thus have very problematic domino effects.”

He also dismissed proposals to put the funds in riskier investments, warning that Belgium could be left liable for losses.

EU foreign ministers discussed the issue last week in Copenhagen, but opposition from Belgium and Germany means no immediate changes are expected. For now, the focus is on ensuring that the assets remain frozen until Russia compensates Ukraine for war damages.