Belgium does not want to take up the very real risk of having to reimburse money that it has no legal grounds to confiscate if its partners refuse to give serious guarantees, as they are refusing now. It also thinks that destroying the credibility of the European financial system and perhaps the Euro itself is not a genius idea that will be of much help to Ukraine. The real issue is that Germany and Hungary, each for their own reasons, are blocking the financing of Ukraine using either the normal budget or Eurobonds. As for a north-eastern European federation, that could be a very good idea but frankly, knowing how nationalistic those countries are, I am very skeptical. The EU framework is still the best available but we need to dump Moscow’s allies, starting with Hungary, and fundamentally change course on defence. The issue there is mainly NATO, which is fast becoming a burden but which most Europeans are loath to let go.
The thing is that the Baltic states have a more "europhile" history as when compared to Sweden. This is because the history of the Soviet occupation and repression influenced on the hearts and minds of many residents as in Latvia, when it comes to European governance and identification. For several years citizens as of Latvia and Estonia were more positive about the EU compared to for Sweden and Finland
Well, there is already the Baltic Sea Region (BSR). It is still the only EU macro-region that was created "bottom-up" by the Nordic and Baltic governments, and not by a top-down method through decisions in Brussels.
Belgium does not want to take up the very real risk of having to reimburse money that it has no legal grounds to confiscate if its partners refuse to give serious guarantees, as they are refusing now. It also thinks that destroying the credibility of the European financial system and perhaps the Euro itself is not a genius idea that will be of much help to Ukraine. The real issue is that Germany and Hungary, each for their own reasons, are blocking the financing of Ukraine using either the normal budget or Eurobonds. As for a north-eastern European federation, that could be a very good idea but frankly, knowing how nationalistic those countries are, I am very skeptical. The EU framework is still the best available but we need to dump Moscow’s allies, starting with Hungary, and fundamentally change course on defence. The issue there is mainly NATO, which is fast becoming a burden but which most Europeans are loath to let go.
The thing is that the Baltic states have a more "europhile" history as when compared to Sweden. This is because the history of the Soviet occupation and repression influenced on the hearts and minds of many residents as in Latvia, when it comes to European governance and identification. For several years citizens as of Latvia and Estonia were more positive about the EU compared to for Sweden and Finland
Well, there is already the Baltic Sea Region (BSR). It is still the only EU macro-region that was created "bottom-up" by the Nordic and Baltic governments, and not by a top-down method through decisions in Brussels.