Merz links EU budget talks to Ukraine aid, Fico calls it blackmail

Merz links the budget to Ukraine funding

Chancellor Friedrich Merz wrote to European Council President António Costa in a letter dated 6 November, warning that Germany could block the EU's multiannual financial framework unless every member state commits to helping Ukraine. The letter, which the German news agency Dpa reviewed, calls for all 27 member states, without exception, to make a fair contribution toward a deficit of several billion euros. Merz also indirectly threatened to hold up other financially sensitive questions if no common commitment emerges. He asked Costa to make the issue a priority on the agenda of the informal EU summit in Dublin on Friday, 13 November, and tied it to negotiations on the EU budget for 2028 to 2034.

The funding gap and the existing loan

The European Commission has estimated Ukraine's financing gap for next year at 70 billion euros, of which 45 billion would fall on the EU. Adnkronos instead puts Kyiv's need for next year at 45 billion euros, so the figures in the coverage differ. Last December the EU agreed a 90 billion euro loan for 2026 and 2027, a sum that Welt says is no longer enough. In October, Volodymyr Zelensky asked allies for another 70 billion euros to sustain the defence against Russian attacks. N-tv reports that part of the new requirement would come from a further EU loan that needs unanimous approval, while the rest would be organised as bilateral support.

Slovakia and Czechia push back

Slovak prime minister Robert Fico said on Tuesday, 10 November, in Bratislava that he would not give in to the demand and called it blackmail. Public broadcaster STVR reported his description of it as typical blackmail, and Reuters quoted him on Slovakia's position in the bloc.

We have the same veto right as the German chancellor.

Fico said he would discuss a joint response to the letter with Czech prime minister Andrej Babiš. Babiš, who was visiting Bratislava, said he did not understand why Merz set this condition. He noted that blocking the EU budget would also block the funds it contains for Ukraine, including a billion euros of aid. He also demanded a role for the EU in peace negotiations, arguing that Europe pays for the war directly and through energy prices.

Bulgaria, Hungary and the holdouts

Welt reports that Bulgarian prime minister Rumen Radev and Fico have announced they do not want to take part in any new EU financial aid for Ukraine, while Hungary and Czechia are seen as wavering. Hungary, Slovakia and Czechia had already been exempted from contributing to the 90 billion euro loan, according to Notícias ao Minuto. At a press conference in Berlin on Tuesday with Hungarian prime minister Péter Magyar, Merz said Ukraine policy must be fully reflected in the European budget. He described a shared basic understanding of how Ukraine will be supported in the coming years as a precondition for concluding the budget talks. Germany is the largest net contributor to the EU, and its approval is indispensable for a budget that needs all 27 signatures.

German contributions so far

Germany has given Ukraine a total of 101 billion euros since Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022, according to figures from the German government. That total comprises about 43.3 billion euros in civil support and 57.6 billion euros in military aid, counted up to 30 June 2026. Merz's letter argues that bilateral assistance to Ukraine is distributed unevenly and provided largely by a few member states.

What comes next

Merz wants the Ukraine funding question placed on the agenda of the informal summit in Dublin on Friday, 13 November. The EU aims to reach an overall agreement on the financial framework by the end of 2026. The sequence of key steps so far is shown below.