Norwegian economists suggest that Norway act as guarantor for a huge loan to Ukraine. - Norway has the means and the obligation to do much more, says former NATO chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen.

• NTB

– Norway has been part of our sanctions packages and has been a good supporter. For me, it would be natural if Norway joins in on this, along with the rest of us, says Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen on her way to Thursday's EU summit in Brussels.

A big item on the agenda is to give Ukraine an interest-free loan of 140 billion euros, just over 1,600 billion kroner.

Belgian skepticism

The plan is that the loan will be provided with collateral in funds from the Russian Central Bank that are frozen in European banks.

Most of the Russian funds are held in the Belgian financial institution Euroclear. But Belgium has been strongly critical of seizing the money. They fear both a loss of confidence in their banking system and Russian punitive reactions.

On Thursday evening, it was announced that Belgium would reject a new compromise proposal from EU President Antonio Costa, writes Politico. Therefore, no agreement was reached on such a loan on Thursday. The matter will now be moved to the next EU summit in December.

Belgium has made it a condition that the other EU countries act as guarantors for the loan so that the Belgians are not alone in the risk of possible later legal prosecution by the Russian side.

But it could cause the creditworthiness of debt-ridden countries like France to fall further.

Norwegian economists Håvard Halland and Knut Anton Mork now believe that Norway can assume the risk of the Ukraine loan.

– Even though Norway is not an EU member, we can play a crucial role, the two write in a column on the website Project Syndicate.

– What a wonderful idea, says Frederiksen.

– A fantastic idea, says another senior EU diplomat.

Former NATO chief: – Norway has the means and the duty to do much more

Former Danish Prime Minister and NATO chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen uses even stronger words.

– Norway has the means and the duty to do much more and take responsibility for the security of Ukraine and Europe, says Rasmussen, who is currently an advisor to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj, to the Danish newspaper  Politiken.

– Norway should take on the risk associated with using the money from the frozen Russian funds. There is no point in hiding behind a bulging oil fund, he says, pointing out that Norway has earned more than 100 billion euros extra from selling gas to Europe after Russian gas supplies were cut off as a result of the Ukraine invasion.

– Therefore, it is only reasonable that Norway also takes on responsibility for supporting peace. This can only be done by strengthening Ukraine, he says.

Wholehearted support from the Left

Liberal Party leader Guri Melby also wholeheartedly supports the proposal.

– Ukraine is not only fighting for its own freedom, but for the freedom of all of Europe and ours. Norway must then contribute where we can. Standing as a guarantor for a loan to Ukraine is both responsible and right. We have the financial strength to do so – and a moral obligation to stand up when freedom is threatened and we have profited as an exporter of gas to Europe, Melby tells NTB.

The two economists point out that Norway probably has the best credit rating in the world, thanks to its oil fund of more than 20,000 billion kroner.

To the Danish newspaper Politiken, Halland and Mork, like Melby, say that Norway not only has the opportunity, but also a moral obligation to act as guarantor.

– Although support for Ukraine has increased recently, it is still only a fraction of Norway's war profits, they say.

In 2022 and 2023, Norway earned a staggering 1270 billion kroner extra from gas sales to Europe as a result of the supply from Russia being cut off.

Zelenskyy: Ukraine can use the money to create long-range weapons

During the EU meeting on Thursday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy expressed that Ukraine could use the money to produce more weapons itself.

Ukraine is capable of producing weapons with a range of between 150 and 3,000 kilometers, Zelenskyy said at a press conference at the EU summit in Brussels on Thursday afternoon.

There he was asked whether information in the press was true that the United States had removed restrictions on American long-range weapons, so that these could be used against targets in Russia.

Zelensky dodged the question and instead focused on Ukrainian-made long-range weapons.

– We have never used long-range American weapons to hit targets in Russia, only against military targets where Russia is preparing military operations, he stated.