Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo departed for The Hague on Thursday morning for a joint meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, Belga News Agency reports.
"Our support remains steadfast," De Croo tweeted. "Our meeting is especially significant as the Netherlands commemorates its war victims today (Remembrance Day) and celebrates freedom and democracy tomorrow (Liberation Day)."
De Croo then posted another tweet shortly after his arrival. "Belgium, the Netherlands and Ukraine are close friends because we share the same values of peace and freedom," he wrote. "Tomorrow, the Netherlands celebrate their liberation from the Nazis thanks to allied support. Now it is our turn to support the liberation of Ukraine."
During the meeting, De Croo announced that Belgium is preparing a new military aid package for Ukraine, although did not go into detail about the aid, but it would be military equipment to replenish Ukraine's reserves. A decision is expected by the end of this month or early next month.
"For such processes, practical obstacles often arise, but I can assure that there is no doubt in Belgian minds and hearts about the need to continue to support Ukraine," De Croo said during a press conference with Zelensky and Rutte at the Casthuis, the Dutch head of government's official residence in The Hague.
Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo, Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelensky and Prime Minister of the Netherlands Mark Rutte in The Hague, the Netherlands, Thursday 04 May 2023. Credit: Belga / Dirk Waem
Belgium is also working on the Russian assets frozen in the country to the tune of €180 billion. In the March budgetary adjustment, it was decided to allocate part of the interest on tax generated by the frozen assets to support Ukraine, but the Prime Minister says he wants to use all the interest for this purpose.
Belgium is seeking to work out a legal framework with the European Commission. "We want to play a leading role in this. Using this money for Ukraine's war effort and for its reconstruction makes perfect sense, both economically and morally," De Croo said.
Previous meetings
De Croo and Zelenskyy's meeting follows De Croo's own visit to Kyiv in November last year, as well as Zelenskyy's historic trip to the Belgian capital in February. Zelenskyy's surprise visit to the Netherlands follows a brief stopover in Finland, where he attended a summit with Nordic leaders in Helsinki.
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During his time in The Hague, Zelenskyy is expected to give a speech entitled "There is no peace without justice" and visit the International Criminal Court (ICC), which issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin last March on charges of "illegally deporting" Ukrainian children.
At a press conference on Wednesday, Zelenskyy denied Russia's recent allegation that the Ukrainian intelligence services had attempted to assassinate Putin with a drone attack on the Kremlin. "We don't attack Putin or Moscow. We fight on our territory. We are defending our villages and cities," he said.
Later this month, Zelenskyy is expected to visit Berlin to meet with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and President Frank-Walter Steinmeier.
This article was amended.
