UA
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DEMr Prime Minister,
it pains us to read news reports attributing to you the view that Europe should once again think in terms of making a deal with Russia.
We sincerely want to believe that this is an inaccurate interpretation of your words. Because if it is not, it sounds like a return to the very same logic that once already led Europe to catastrophe.
After 2014, Russia was already given a chance. Trade with Russia continued. Dependencies continued to be built around Russia. For the sake of economic comfort, Europe closed its eyes to the fact that the war against Ukraine had already begun. We all know how that ended: Bucha, Mariupol, Izium, mass graves, torture chambers, and the largest war on the European continent in generations.
That is precisely why it is especially painful for us to hear such words from you.
Because you were in Bucha. You saw what Russia brings wherever it arrives. You know that this is not abstract geopolitics or a theoretical discussion. These are murdered civilians, broken cities, shattered lives, and an attempt to erase an entire nation from the map.
And that is exactly why it is so difficult to understand how, after all this, one can again speak the language of a “deal” as if this were an ordinary partner with whom relations simply need to be restarted.
We understand reality. We know that Belgium, like much of Europe, spent years building part of its industrial and energy model in connection with Russia. We know how difficult it is to break old supply chains, restructure markets, and abandon familiar and cheaper routes. We understand the internal political and economic pressure.
But that is precisely the price of sovereignty.
It is either paid in advance — with money, difficult decisions, new partnerships, and economic restructuring — or it is later paid in blood.
The mistake made after 2014 must not be repeated. Russia must not once again be given money, time, and space to recover. Europe must not once again return to business as usual with a regime that has already attacked Ukraine twice and that each time interpreted concessions not as a gesture of goodwill, but as weakness.
Peace is needed by everyone. Most of all by Ukraine. But peace cannot mean the rehabilitation of the aggressor. Peace cannot mean a new line of credit of trust for a repeat offender. Peace cannot mean financing the next war.
And here Europe must be honest with itself.
If even Giorgia Meloni openly says that today’s global chaos and crisis of international law are a direct consequence of Russia’s war against Ukraine, has Europe really still not drawn the necessary conclusions?
Can a few percentage points of savings, a cheaper resource, short-term comfort, or the interests of certain sectors really matter more than the principles of international law, human lives, and the long-term security of the European continent itself?
Because the truth is simple: Russia will not stop at Ukraine if it feels that aggression is once again paying off.
To give it a pause, to give it money, to let it rebuild its military potential means not avoiding a major war in Europe, but merely postponing it and making it more costly for everyone.
We address you not with hostility. On the contrary.
We address you as a person from whom historical clarity, principled leadership, and an understanding of the price of illusions about Russia were expected. As the leader of a country we love, in which we live, and which many of us already call home. As the Prime Minister of a state that can be truly strong not only through its economy, but also through its moral position.
You are the leader of this country. You are one of the most popular prime ministers in the history of Belgian premiership. You are the leader of those people who, in 2022, opened their hearts and their doors to Ukrainians. The leader of those who, through supporting Ukraine, felt a new sense of purpose in life, better understood what it means to live with purpose, with dignity, and for justice. You are the leader of precisely these people. You are the leader of precisely this country. And we ask you to remember that.
That is why such statements from your side are dangerous. They take leadership in the wrong direction. We would like your leadership to express itself precisely in continuing to stand for justice, rather than returning Europe to the logic of compromise with the aggressor.
Communication changes perception. You choose yourself what to communicate to your people. And leadership lies there too. Leadership does not consist merely in stating what is already happening; it consists in taking responsibility for the steps that have not yet been taken and for the words that have not yet been spoken. Mere observation does not suit the leader of a nation. Mere description of today’s facts does not lead people forward. It is precisely through communication, through your vision, through your belief, that the course of history can be changed. And that is exactly what we call on you to do.
We are grateful to Belgium for its help to Ukraine. We see it. We value it. That is precisely why such signals hurt all the more deeply.
Because they sound like a step backwards. Like agreement with the idea that Europe can once again trade principles for convenience. Like the temptation to choose short-term comfort over long-term security.
But history has repeatedly shown that peoples who choose bread over freedom ultimately risk losing both bread and freedom.
And if Europe once again returns to business as usual, that will mean that Belgium and Europe will be among the first to co-finance this war. Because the war against Ukraine will not end if the aggressor is once again fed with money, contracts, and convenient formulas of coexistence. That would mean co-financing the war against Ukraine. And in the longer term, co-financing war in Europe itself.
Bart, we very much hope that this is only a misinterpretation.
Because what Europe needs today is not a new deal with Russia.
What Europe needs today is memory, dignity, strategic clarity, and a just peace — a peace that will not become a pause before the next invasion.