Germany, the largest economy in the European Union (EU), has made this issue a prerequisite for EU long-term budget negotiations, saying that other member states should equally share the support for Ukraine. Countries that are negative about support for Ukraine, such as the Czech Republic, protested, calling it a ‘threat.’
According to the daily Süddeutsche Zeitung (SZ) on the 11th (local time), German Chancellor Friedrich Merz recently sent a letter to EU Summit President António Costa, saying, "(Ukraine's) commitment to contribute fairly and without exception to eliminating the deficit is an essential prerequisite for discussing other issues with financial implications."
Prime Minister Merz criticized some member states that are trying to withdraw from support for Ukraine, saying, “Support for Ukraine is uneven and is mostly provided by a small number of member states.”
The EU estimates that next year's Ukrainian government budget will be short by 70 billion euros (about 105.1 trillion won), and plans to cover 45 billion euros (about 67.6 trillion won) of this, but it has not been decided how to raise the funds. Recently, non-member countries such as the UK and Canada have also appealed for cost sharing.
Separately, EU member states are negotiating to conclude a long-term budget plan for 2028-2034 within the year. Net contributing countries, such as Germany, Austria, Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands, and Sweden, which pay more to the EU than they receive, are at odds with other member states in southern and central-eastern Europe, advocating a tighter budget.
Germany became Ukraine's largest donor after the U.S. administration of Donald Trump decided not to use its own budget to support Ukraine. Germany, which pays the largest contribution to the EU, must include Ukraine's aid in the EU's long-term budget to reduce its burden and avoid the hassle of negotiating each year. SZ predicted that negotiations would become more difficult if Marine Le Pen of the French National Coalition (RN), who is particularly negative about the EU's budget spending, is elected in the French presidential election next year.
However, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, and Bulgaria, which are net beneficiaries of the EU budget but are passive in supporting Ukraine, are opposed to the additional budget burden.
Slovak Prime Minister Robert Pizzo protested at a joint meeting with the Czech government on this day, saying, "It is a typical threat and we will not give in. We also have the same veto power as the German chancellor."
Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis said sarcastically that Prime Minister Merz does not seem to know that 100 billion euros (about 150 trillion won) in aid to Ukraine has already been included in the budget for 2028-2034 presented by the European Commission.
The Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Hungary were left out of the joint guarantee early this year after being involved in the EU's decision to grant 90 billion euros (approximately 135.2 trillion won) of emergency loans to Ukraine.
Prime Minister Merz also put pressure on Hungary at a joint press conference with Hungarian Prime Minister Peter Peter, who visited Berlin, Germany, saying, "At least four countries have different ideas." “I don’t see this as a threat,” he said. “I don’t think linking the EU budget in any way to other issues is a good approach.”
Meanwhile, Reuters reported that Chairman Costa sent a reply to Prime Minister Merz and confirmed that the issue of linking the share of support for Ukraine requested by Prime Minister Merz with the EU's long-term budget plan will be discussed at the special European Council meeting to be held on the 26th and 27th.
Chairman Costa said that the agenda of this meeting will be two issues: the next European long-term budget and Ukraine's financial needs until next year.
