The European Commission must find other ways of financing Ukraine, the Czech Republic will not guarantee anything, said Czech Prime Minister-designate Andrej Babiš in a video posted on the X network. The financial needs of Ukraine in 2026 and 2027 will be dealt with at the EU summit, which will begin next week, TASR reports, according to the news web portal iDNES.cz.
- Czech Prime Minister Babiš refuses to guarantee the financing of Ukraine by the European Union.
- The EU summit will address Ukraine’s financial needs for 2026 and 2027.
- The loan to Ukraine may be secured by frozen Russian assets.
- Some states do not agree to a reparation loan or a long-term asset freeze.
- Funding of Ukraine requires a unanimous or qualified majority of the EU.
Babiš said that he agrees with Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever, whom he met in Brussels on Thursday. “The European Commission must find other ways of financing Ukraine. We do not have money for other states, and the European Union must solve this in another way, but we will not guarantee it for anything, nor will we give money there.” he added.
The outgoing Czech Minister of Foreign Affairs, Jan Lipavský, considers a loan to Ukraine financed by cash proceeds from the frozen assets of the Russian central bank to be the only realistic way. “Ukraine’s needs are urgent and negotiations within the EU must not become a pretext for delaying the aid that Ukraine urgently needs,” said Lipavský.
“Unfortunately, the statement of Prime Minister-designate Babiš confirms the deviation of Czech foreign policy from the promotion and defense of traditional values and principles in international relations towards cowardice, selfishness and irresponsibility, which will be passed off as a wise and pragmatic decision,” Martin Dvořák, the outgoing Minister of European Affairs of the Czech Republic, told Czech Television.
“The saddest part is that the reluctance to actively help in the fight against the occupiers may return to our country when the same aggressor approaches our borders, and our western allies will also take a “pragmatic” approach to itDvořák added.
Union presidents and prime ministers will be at the summit to decide between two proposed financing options for Ukraine. The first option, according to the commission, is for the EU to raise capital on the capital markets and use the EU budget as a guarantee. But this solution requires unanimous approval by the EU states.
For the second solution, a reparation loan for Kyiv, only approval by a qualified majority would be sufficient. The principle is that at the beginning of the Russian war in Ukraine, the securities depository Euroclear held the bonds of the Russian central bank. As soon as these bonds matured, the resulting cash was stuck in Euroclear due to EU sanctions against Moscow.
Euroclear now invests this cash in the European Central Bank, but would reinvest it in EU bonds. The Union would then use these funds to provide a reparation loan, which Ukraine would repay only after receiving war reparations from Russia. The loan would go towards Ukraine’s military and budgetary needs and would be subject to strict control.
Hungary and Slovakia disagree with the proposed reparation loan secured by frozen Russian assets. The two nations also voted against a proposal on Friday to keep Russian assets in the European Union frozen indefinitely. It will therefore not be necessary to vote on it every six months as before.
The change, approved by a qualified majority of EU member states, was also supported by the Czech Republic, for which the outgoing Minister of Finance Zbyněk Stanjura took part in the negotiations. Four countries, including Belgium, voted in favor, but added a statement that the decision does not foresee further steps regarding frozen Russian assets.
