German chancellor has signalled he will block budget with no aid deal, complaining that burden is ‘carried mostly by only a few member states’
Friedrich Merz has signalled he will block the EU’s seven-year budget unless there is a deal on financial aid for Ukraine, triggering accusations of “typical blackmail” from some other European leaders and setting the stage for stormy talks later this month.
The German chancellor’s intervention has angered leaders in central Europe who are net beneficiaries of EU funds but do not want to take part in an upcoming funding round to support Ukraine’s war effort.
“What the chancellor is doing is typical blackmail, and I will not give in to it,” Slovakia’s Russia-friendly prime minister, Robert Fico, told reporters in Bratislava.
He was speaking alongside his Czech counterpart, Andrej Babiš, whose populist government also rejects taking part in a future loan for Ukraine. “I do not know why he is saying it,” Babiš said, referring to Merz’s position.
Merz wants EU leaders to discuss Ukraine’s financing needs at a summit in Dublin on Friday. “We must continue to support Ukraine in its fight to defend itself. This is in our shared vital interest,” he wrote in a letter, seen by the Guardian, to the European Council president, António Costa, who will chair the meeting.
