EU budget in Dublin: Merz, Babiš and the question of Ukraine aid

Things are expected to get heated in Dublin on Friday: EU leaders are discussing a new EU budget of 1,800 billion euros covering several years, and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz made his consent conditional on aid for Ukraine just beforehand.

What the dispute is about

A group of wealthy countries led by Germany wants to cut the budget. Seventeen poorer states, including Czechia, which receive more from Brussels than they pay in, are opposed. A veto applies, so every country must agree.

In a letter to European Council President António Costa, Merz wrote that a shared commitment by all countries without exception to help cover Ukraine’s deficit is a necessary condition for discussing any other matters, especially those with financial implications. Ukraine’s treasury is short 70 billion euros for 2027; the European Union has promised to cover two-thirds, about 45 billion, probably through a new loan.

The chancellor named no one, but he apparently had in mind Czechia, Slovakia and Hungary, which at last December’s summit refused to take part in guarantees for the 90-billion-euro Ukrainian loan. Germany contributes almost a quarter (24 percent) of the EU budget and is the largest donor of aid to Ukraine.

The reaction in Prague, Budapest and Bratislava

Hungarian Prime Minister Péter Magyar responded cautiously, saying he considers it wrong to link the two topics. Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš wrote his own letter to Costa: in his words, an agreement on future financing for Ukraine cannot be a condition for approving the budget. Robert Fico, whose governing majority recently fell apart, threatened that he too could use a veto.

What is at stake for Czechia

In the 2028–2034 period under negotiation, Czechia could receive 29 billion euros — more than 700 billion crowns — for farmers, companies and regions. According to the article’s original author, the EU pays for 40 percent of public investment here.

The author criticizes Prague’s position: Czechia is near the bottom of NATO countries in defense spending and is not taking part in the exercise of 11 NATO armies in Poland, where about five thousand troops are rehearsing how to guard a possible peace in Ukraine, as SPD leader Tomio Okamura announced. And at the Paris conference to raise 250 million euros to repair the Chernobyl sarcophagus, damaged by a Russian drone, Czechia contributed 20 thousand euros — 0.008 percent of the target — while more than 300 million was collected.

Babiš remarked at a press conference that if Merz blocks the budget, the money for Ukraine will disappear as well. But if the budget collapses, the author believes, it is the recipients of subsidies, Czechia included, who will suffer, while countries that want to help Kyiv will be able to do so outside the EU framework.

Around Prague, based on reporting by seznamzpravy.cz