Czech and Slovak PMs reject Merz Ukraine funding call

The Czech and Slovak prime ministers criticised German Chancellor Friedrich Merz on Tuesday after he urged European Union members to make a collective commitment to help fund Ukraine.

Merz said in a letter seen by AFP that the EU needed to agree on funding to keep Ukraine going next year before resolving a standoff over the bloc's next budget. Brussels has said Kyiv faces a 70-billion-euro shortfall in 2027, of which the 27-nation EU should look to cover about 45 billion euros.

Merz told EU chief Antonio Costa that a commitment by all EU members to contribute fairly to closing the gap was an essential condition for resolving the issue.

Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico called Merz's position “typical blackmail” and said Slovakia would not give in. Fico, who has fostered close ties with the Kremlin, has rejected direct military aid to Ukraine.

Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis, whose nationalist government also rejects military aid to Ukraine, dismissed Merz's comments during a visit to Bratislava and pointed to the EU's overall support for Kyiv.

The EU last year arranged a 90-billion-euro loan for Ukraine, but officials say those funds are expected to run out before the end of next year as Russia steps up bombardments of Ukrainian infrastructure. Prague and Bratislava negotiated exemptions from guarantees for that loan.

European diplomats and EU officials expect the bloc to agree to a new loan for Ukraine modelled on the earlier one. Merz asked Costa to add the issue to the agenda of an EU leaders' meeting in Dublin on Friday.