Euro bonds needed unanimity... but reparations loan 'most viable option' - Kallas gives clearest hint that bloc could go ahead without Belgium

"EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said that the 'reparations loan' for Ukraine - backed by frozen Russian assets - was the 'most viable option' when asked about alternatives, suggesting that it was the only way to get a 'majority' decision, following the Foreign Affairs Council in Belgium on Monday. "We have come to the place where this reparations loan is the most viable option. As we know, I mean, I've been also proposing in my previous capacity as prime minister of Estonia, the euro bonds, because if we share the burden, you know, also in terms of the loan, it is cheaper for everybody," she said. "But, you know, it's an unanimity decision and we don't have everybody on board. And that's why it hasn't worked for the last three years," she added. The loan - opposed by Belgium, where the assets are held, and others, would, according to Kallas, just need a 'qualified majority' of members to back it. That means decisions can made with 15 of 27 members representing 65 percent of the bloc by population. "