After Zelensky asked EU leaders for €70 billion for 2027, Slovak PM Robert Fico said his country will not take part; the EU has not yet reached consensus.
Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico has said his country will not join the €70 billion support package for Ukraine that Volodymyr Zelensky asked EU leaders for at the Brussels summit on 16 October. According to Fico, Hungarian Prime Minister Péter Magyar takes a similar position, and Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš has also signalled his country will not join additional financing. NGO Volunteers Support Ukraine follows the debate, because it shapes how stable support for Ukraine will be next year.
Zelensky said Ukraine needs an additional €70 billion in 2027 for defence and resilience. After the summit he said leaders showed broad backing, singling out the understanding of European Council President António Costa and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. The European Council asked the Commission to draft concrete proposals to close the funding gap. Costa said leaders reached consensus on Ukraine's medium-term needs, and von der Leyen said the shortfall should be covered through coordinated contributions from allies.
Fico criticised linking EU budget talks to aid for Ukraine and said Slovakia would offer only bilateral cooperation, in education, logistics and energy. French President Emmanuel Macron said allies would study the request carefully: "We will indeed be looking at the funding." There is no consensus on the €70 billion yet. Disbursements continue under the EU's €90 billion loan, of which €45 billion is earmarked for 2027; Slovakia, Hungary and Czechia did not join that package either, but did not block it.
The debate in Brussels continues while Ukraine's needs, including air defence and energy on the eve of winter, keep growing. Volunteers Support Ukraine keeps helping people affected by the war within the resources it has, and is grateful to every country that stands with Ukraine.
