EU Budget Dispute Deepens Over Merz’s Ukraine Aid Ultimatum
Slovakia threatened a veto after Germany made fresh aid a condition for approving the EU’s next long-term budget. Kyiv faces a €70 billion shortfall next year, and Brussels has pledged to cover roughly €45 billion.
Choose Clash Report as a preferred source and see our reporting first in Top Stories.
Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Bulgaria pushed back against German Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s demand for fresh financial support for Ukraine as a condition for approving the European Union’s next long-term budget.
Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico threatened to use his veto.
Merz called fresh aid an “essential prerequisite” for approving the budget in a letter to European Council President António Costa.
Both decisions require unanimity. Merz argued that support for Kyiv was a matter of European security and that EU members should share the cost.
Speaking in Bratislava on Tuesday alongside Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš, Fico called Merz’s move a “textbook case of blackmail” and said Slovakia had the same veto power as Germany.
Babiš pointed to €100 billion already earmarked for Ukraine in the draft budget.
That money would become available in 2028. Kyiv faces a €70 billion shortfall next year.
Dispute Over Joint Borrowing
Brussels has pledged to cover roughly €45 billion of that shortfall.
The EU has yet to settle on a financing mechanism, with another round of joint borrowing emerging as the leading option.
The funding would come on top of an existing €90 billion support loan. Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Hungary secured exemptions from that loan.
Hungarian Prime Minister Péter Magyar opposed tying the two decisions together after meeting Merz in Berlin on Tuesday.
He disputed Fico’s characterization of the demand as blackmail and said Hungary’s public deficit prevented it from committing to fresh EU borrowing. He said talks would continue.
In Varna, Bulgarian Prime Minister Rumen Radev also cited his country’s deficit in making the case for an exemption from future credit lines for Ukraine.
He said Bulgaria would continue to support Kyiv through other means, including energy flows.
The four countries are part of the 17-member Friends of Cohesion group, which wants to protect EU cohesion and agricultural funding in the next budget.
Germany, one of Ukraine’s largest donors, belongs to a group of countries seeking broad spending cuts.
Speaking alongside Magyar, Merz pressed for Ukraine policy to be fully included in the EU budget.
“At least four countries think differently, but it is definitely important to talk about this,” he said.
Ahmet Koçak
Ahmet Koçak is a news editor at Clash Report based in Istanbul. He previously served as Deputy Managing Editor at Türkiye Today, helping launch the digital news platform in 2023, and spent three years as Senior Editor at Daily Sabah. His work focuses on breaking news, geopolitics, international affairs, and digital journalism.
Choose Clash Report as a preferred source and see our reporting first in Top Stories.
