BRATISLAVA — Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico accused German Chancellor Friedrich Merz of 'blackmail' on Tuesday after Berlin pushed to link a deal on funding for Ukraine to talks on the European Union's next long-term budget, Reuters reported.

Source: Reuters via DevDiscourse

Merz, in a letter to European Council President Antonio Costa seen by Reuters, said all of the EU must contribute to funding Ukraine as it defends itself against Russia's invasion. He said a commitment that all EU members would help Ukraine fill a projected EUR 70 billion funding gap for 2027 — EUR 70 billion, yaani about 7,000 crore euros — with an expected EU contribution of EUR 45 billion (yaani about 4,500 crore euros), was a prerequisite for 'discussing any further matters, particularly those with financial implications'.

"What the federal chancellor is doing is a textbook case of blackmail, and I reject it. We are a sovereign country. We are the Slovak Republic. We have our own views," Fico said as he welcomed Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis in Bratislava, Euronews reported. "Just as Mr Merz talks about using his veto, I can say exactly the same. We have the same veto power as the German federal chancellor."

Source: Euronews

Four capitals push back — but not in the same words

Babis, standing alongside Fico, said blocking the EU budget would also block money earmarked for Ukraine, and quipped that Merz 'probably doesn't realise' the proposed budget already earmarks EUR 100 billion for Ukraine — though those funds would not become available until 2028, while Kyiv faces its EUR 70 billion shortfall next year, Euronews reported. In Berlin, Hungarian Prime Minister Peter Magyar told Merz he opposed linking the budget with Ukraine aid, but declined Fico's word: 'I do not consider this to be blackmail... But I think that this does not necessarily have a good message.' Magyar said Hungary could not commit to fresh European-level debt while struggling with its public deficit. Speaking in Varna, Bulgarian Prime Minister Rumen Radev also pointed to high deficits and said Bulgaria would support Ukraine through other means, such as energy flows, without blocking Council decisions.

Merz, speaking alongside Magyar in Berlin, insisted support for Ukraine must be shared more fairly: 'Supporting Ukraine is a matter of our indivisible European security, and so must be the burden sharing for that support,' he wrote in the letter. 'It's not a good option to continue down this path. Ukraine policy should be fully included in the European Union budget,' he said on Tuesday, while acknowledging at least four countries think differently. The EU is negotiating its next seven-year budget, to run from 2028, and both that budget and new Ukraine funding require unanimity — which is what gives each capital a veto.

Background: Fico has criticised EU policy on the war in Ukraine, opposing military aid and keeping cordial ties with Russia even as other EU leaders isolated Moscow over its 2022 invasion, Reuters noted. Merz's move was seen as an attempt to use Germany's status as the budget's biggest contributor to pressure countries reluctant to sign up for more support for Ukraine. Brussels has promised to cover two-thirds of Ukraine's EUR 70 billion gap, roughly EUR 45 billion, through a yet-to-be-defined instrument, with a new round of joint debt quickly emerging as the frontrunner option, Euronews reported.

What happens next: EU leaders meet at a summit on November 26, ahead of which the budget-versus-Ukraine linkage will be negotiated in Berlin, Dublin and Brussels, as Magyar put it. With unanimity required on both files, a single veto from any capital can stall either — and Tuesday's exchange shows at least four governments publicly resisting Berlin's condition while Germany insists burden-sharing is non-negotiable.