Four EU countries opposed linking the budget to aid for Ukraine

Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Bulgaria did not support German Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s proposal to link the approval of the European Union’s next long-term budget to the provision of additional financial aid to Ukraine.

Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico called Merz’s initiative blackmail and threatened to exercise his veto power. His position was supported by Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš.

Babiš also noted that the draft of the next EU budget already allocates 100 billion euros for Ukraine, but these funds will not become available until 2028. Meanwhile, Kyiv may face a shortfall of about 70 billion euros as early as next year.

In a letter to European Council President António Costa, Merz called the new aid to Ukraine a necessary condition for the approval of the EU budget.

Bulgarian Prime Minister Rumen Radev stated that, due to a significant budget deficit, his country should not take on new loan obligations toward Ukraine. At the same time, he assured that Bulgaria would continue to support Kyiv in other ways.

Source: Euronews

The European Union plans to provide Ukraine with 920 million euros to restore and strengthen its energy infrastructure ahead of the winter season. This was announced by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

On July 30, the European Union transferred another financial tranche of 3.47 billion euros to Ukraine. The funds will be used to support the country’s defense capabilities and finance priority government needs amid a full-scale war.

Ukraine expects the International Monetary Fund to approve a new tranche of $690 million by mid-July. The decision is to be made by the IMF’s Executive Board following the completion of a review of the cooperation program. The parties have already agreed on key parameters and the next steps for reforms.