Fico: Slovakia Will Not Yield to Merz's Pressure Over EU Budget

Bratislava, 10 November (TASR) – Slovakia will not bow to pressure from German Chancellor Friedrich Merz over the drafting of the EU budget for 2028-2034, Prime Minister Robert Fico declared at a joint news conference with his Czech counterpart Andrej Babis in Bratislava on Tuesday. Merz has threatened to block approval of the EU budget unless all member states commit to continuing financial assistance to Ukraine in 2027 and beyond. "Above all, a loan or grant for Ukraine must be separated from the drafting of the EU budget. I make that distinction. I maintain that the two have nothing to do with each other. I believe the 2028-2034 budget provides for €100 billion for Ukraine. That amount is included directly in the budget," Fico stated. According to the Slovak prime minister, a compromise must be reached on the EU budget. "I am in favour of a compromise and am prepared to discuss one. But no one will blackmail me using the war in Ukraine, especially after what I heard from the Ukrainian prime minister (last week)," he underlined. "If the German Chancellor comes and says he will block the EU budget because he wants to see all countries sign up to a €70 billion loan for Ukraine, my answer is no. I will block it too," Fico said. "We are a sovereign Czech Republic. My vote in the European Council carries exactly the same weight as Chancellor Merz's. So we need to discuss behind closed doors how things really stand. I have already refused once to guarantee a loan for Ukraine," Babis added. The Czech prime minister specified that Ukraine has received €520 billion since the start of the war, both directly and through bilateral assistance. The current draft EU budget allocates a further €100 billion to Kiev. "I do not understand why anyone would want to block the budget when it already proposes allocating such a large amount to Ukraine. The question is whether this should be included in the budget at all. I do not think it should; this should be done through a different mechanism. We'd need this money for a 'Marshall Plan' to rebuild Ukraine. So there's no real conflict here. Hopefully, we will discuss and clarify everything in Dublin [at the informal EU leaders' summit-ed.note]," the Czech prime minister added. mf