German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has warned that Berlin will block the European Union's next long-term budget unless every member state commits to financing Ukraine, in a letter to European Council President António Costa dated November 6 and first reported by the Financial Times. Germany is the EU's largest net contributor, and Merz made its support for the 2028–2034 budget — the Multiannual Financial Framework, or MFF — explicitly conditional on a collective Ukraine pledge.

Source: Financial Times, via Rapporteur

"A collective commitment that all of us, without exception, will contribute fairly to closing this gap is an essential prerequisite for resolving this issue and for discussing any further matters, particularly those with financial implications," Merz wrote, in a letter also sent to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, according to the reports. He also argued the next budget must include "a solution supported by all member states that ensures a sound and multiannual financing perspective for Ukraine from 2028 onwards, including the interest liabilities that have already accrued" from past loans.

Source: Financial Times, via Meduza

Four holdouts in Merz's sights

Hungary, Slovakia, Czechia and Bulgaria have all ruled out contributing to the fresh support, the Financial Times reported; the first three previously secured an opt-out from the ongoing €90 billion EU loan for Ukraine that is currently being paid out. The four are net beneficiaries of the EU budget — they receive more from it than they pay in — a point at the heart of Berlin's complaint that bilateral assistance to Ukraine is distributed unevenly and carried mostly by only a few member states.

Source: Financial Times, via Rapporteur

Rapporteur, which saw the letter, reported that Merz also wants EU leaders to discuss Ukraine's financing at a lunch in Dublin this week, and that his intervention included a demand to drop the requirement for unanimity on future loans for Ukraine — moving to qualified-majority voting so a single holdout cannot stop them. A spokesperson for Costa said the European Council president will make time for interventions on Ukraine at the informal European Council in Dublin, and that Ukraine financing is also on the agenda of the special European Council of November 26–27.

Source: Rapporteur

The Merz ultimatum lands days before Russia, Ukraine and the United States open US-brokered talks in Abu Dhabi — the war whose costs the EU budget fight is about. Read: US-brokered Russia–Ukraine talks open in Abu Dhabi

The move is an attempt, analysts cited in the reports said, to lock in funding for Ukraine on a rolling basis before national elections next year could bring more leaders opposed to further support for Kyiv. In spring 2026 the EU approved a €90 billion loan for Ukraine, but Kyiv will still need another €70 billion in external financing in 2027 as Russia's full-scale invasion, launched in February 2022, approaches its fifth anniversary.

Source: Financial Times, via Meduza