Translated with AI
Norway may use its €1.7 trillion sovereign wealth fund, the world's largest, to secure a €100 billion European Union military loan to Ukraine, according to the British newspaper The Times. The idea has already received support in the country's parliament.
According to the publication, the proposal was supported by four of nine political parties, including several left-wing parties, which is critical for Prime Minister Jonas Garu Støre to maintain his minority government. The Norwegian prime minister has expressed his willingness to explore the practical implementation of this initiative and is monitoring the results of negotiations in Brussels, awaiting a clear expression of interest from the EU.
Belgium previously opposed providing Kyiv with a "reparations loan" of approximately €140 billion secured by the Russian Central Bank's frozen assets in the EU. At the same time, as The Times notes, Norway's political leadership expressed outrage at claims by Denmark and several other countries that Oslo is allegedly "profiting from the war" by selling large volumes of oil and gas to its allies.
Some Norwegian economists believe that providing part of the fund's financial assets as a guarantee for a loan to Kyiv will help balance the situation.
The European Commission previously prepared a report on the consequences of refusing to use frozen Russian assets to finance aid to Ukraine. The report states that if the plan to access some of the funds blocked in the Belgian Euroclear depository is not implemented within two years, EU countries will have to either agree to joint borrowing, increasing the debt burden on their budgets, or provide Ukraine with direct grants totaling €140 billion, the Financial Times reports.
