PARIS, November 10. /TASS/. Florian Philippot, the leader of the French political party Les Patriotes, believes that the provocations involving unidentified drones in Belgian airspace and the subsequent calls to defend against them are intended to push the country’s leadership to seize frozen Russian assets for further financing of the conflict in Ukraine.

"For several days, Belgium has been subjected to intense propaganda about allegedly 'Russian drones' that seeks to force it to lift its veto on the use of frozen Russian assets! Germany and the United Kingdom even offer to send them military equipment. NATO and the European Union are making every effort to create panic in Belgium and pressure its prime minister!" the politician wrote on his X page, calling such tactics "mafia-style."

Most of Russia’s €210 billion in sovereign assets frozen in Europe are blocked at the Euroclear platform in Belgium, which fears it would bear the impact of any Russian retaliatory measures. Earlier, Russian Ambassador to Belgium Denis Gonchar told TASS that expropriating Russian assets under any scheme would be considered "theft." He warned that Russia’s retaliation "would be immediate" and force the West to "reckon with its losses."

The EU states continue to discuss ways of further financing Ukraine, including the possibility of granting Kiev a "reparation loan" by seizing frozen Russian assets. At the EU summit on October 23, Belgium blocked the European Commission’s plan to expropriate Russian assets to provide Ukraine with the so-called reparation loan, fearing retaliation from Russia. Belgium demanded legal guarantees that any financial losses would be distributed among all countries of the bloc. The EU summit postponed the decision on this issue until December and instructed the European Commission to prepare various lending options to Ukraine for 2026-2027. The European Commission press service has repeatedly stated that expropriating Russian assets remains a priority.