Fico and Babiš criticize Merz’s request that all EU states contribute to financing Ukraine before discussions about the budget

Cristiana Dida

10 November 2026, 16:01

International

Robert Fico / foto: shutterstock.com

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Slovak and Czech Prime Ministers Robert Fico and Andrej Babiš criticized on Tuesday the decision to make discussions on the European Union’s next budget conditional on a commitment by all member states to finance Ukraine. Germany wants the issue discussed at Friday’s informal summit in Dublin.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on Monday that all EU countries, without exception, must commit to helping cover Ukraine’s financial deficit before any discussion of the future European budget. Berlin points out that Germany is the main contributor to support for Kyiv.

Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico called this position “blackmail” and said he would not give in. In Bratislava, where he was visiting, Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš said he did not understand Merz’s statements and stressed that the European budget Germany is threatening to block also includes €1 billion in aid for Ukraine.

Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic are exempt from contributing to the €90 billion European loan intended for Ukraine for 2026 and 2027. Kyiv estimates, however, that its financial needs for next year are approximately €70 billion higher. The EU has committed to covering €45 billion, without having yet established the financing mechanism.

ตัว,

Context: The EU is negotiating a political agreement to finance Ukraine in 2027, while some governments are demanding stricter conditions for the budget

Before Tuesday’s confrontation, the European Commission was already seeking, by the end of the year, a political agreement on Ukraine’s €70 billion deficit for 2027. In terms of the breakdown, the Commission was considering €40 billion for defense spending and €30 billion for the operation of the national budget; at the same time, officials hoped that the United States, Canada, Japan, and the United Kingdom would increase their contributions. According to the same analysis, the “military deficit” could fall to €27 billion if NATO states honor the commitments made in Ankara on July 8.

The Commission was preparing several financing options for the extraordinary EU summit on November 26, while the inclusion of frozen Russian assets was considered unlikely due to opposition from Belgium, which fears reprisals from Moscow.

On the other hand, Bulgaria had announced that it would not participate in a new EU financial assistance package for Ukraine requested by Volodymyr Zelenskyy for the following year, stating that it could not be involved in this amount and criticizing the conflict’s impact on the European economy.