70 billion for Kyiv: Slovakia, Hungary and Czech Republic do not want to take part
Zelenskyy asked EU leaders for another 70 billion euros for 2027. Fico declines, citing Hungarian Prime Minister Magyar, and Babiš also demurs. Macron says it will be examined.
Archive image · Photo: European Commission (Lukasz Kobus) / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0 (cropped and resized)
Slovakia will not take part in a new financial package for Ukraine, Prime Minister Robert Fico said. President Zelenskyy had asked EU heads of state and government at the summit in Brussels on Oct. 16 for an additional 70 billion euros for defense and resilience in 2027. According to the Slovak news agency TASR, Fico said Hungarian Prime Minister Péter Magyar takes a similar view. Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš also signaled that his country would not participate.
Six months ago, the EU approved a 90 billion euro loan intended to secure Ukraine through the end of 2027; the three countries did not participate but did not block it either. Fico announced support in other areas such as education, logistics and energy. French President Emmanuel Macron said the financing would be examined; money should come from the G7, other partners and the Europeans.
In parallel, the question of around 200 billion euros in frozen Russian assets held at Euroclear in Belgium is also at stake. Zelenskyy said on Saturday that Russia could try to recover parts of them through Ukraine’s partners, but did not name any countries. For now, the funds are “completely under Europe’s control” and therefore safe for the time being, he said.