Prime Minister Alexander De Croo (Open Vld) followed the European line on Tuesday morning by estimating at the microphone of Radio 1 (VRT) that the EU must quickly take measures “which hurt Russia”.
A meeting of the ambassadors of the 27 to the EU (Coreper) is scheduled for Tuesday. Later in the day, an informal meeting of Foreign Ministers will take place in Paris (in the afternoon). It was convened urgently, following on from the Ministerial Forum for Cooperation in the Indo-Pacific which was already scheduled for the morning under the French Presidency of the Council of the EU, as High Representative Josep Borrell indicated on Tuesday morning.
The first sanctions will therefore be discussed over the course of the day. What is happening in Ukraine “is a very serious violation of the territorial integrity” of the country, underlined Alexander De Croo, who speaks of a “staged demonstration” by Moscow. “Russia is doing what it has always wanted, occupying a piece of Ukrainian territory.” “We will react appropriately,” he said without going into details.
Questioned by the VRT on the Belgian response to Ukraine’s requests for military aid in terms of equipment from its allies, the Prime Minister indicated that “all requests are analyzed by Defense in consultation with the other countries. Our priority, however, is to work as much as possible within the framework of NATO”. Only the possible sending on the spot of helmets would still be envisaged by Belgium.