Overview
- Greek finance minister Kyriakos Pierrakakis defeated Belgian Deputy Prime Minister Vincent Van Peteghem in Thursday’s vote to lead the eurozone finance ministers’ forum.
- Belgium has publicly opposed the European Commission plan to use roughly €200 billion in frozen Russian central bank assets for a proposed €165 billion Ukraine loan, warning of legal and financial retaliation risks.
- Much of the frozen money sits at Brussels-based clearing house Euroclear, and the assets question was slated for discussion by EU finance ministers after the leadership vote.
- The contest followed Paschal Donohoe’s surprise resignation in November from the Eurogroup post, which oversees coordination of economic and budget policy for the 20 euro-area members.
- The meeting also opened the nomination process for the next European Central Bank vice-president, with Luis de Guindos’ term ending in May.