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Prague – The European Commission must find other ways of financing Ukraine, the Czech Republic will not guarantee anything, said designated Prime Minister Andrej Babiš (ANO) in a video he published today on the X network. The EU summit, which will begin next Thursday, will deal with Ukraine’s financial needs in 2026 and 2027. For the negotiations, the European Commission has proposed two options: the first is a loan from the European Union, the second a reparations loan secured by frozen Russian assets. Since February 2022, Ukraine has been facing Russian military aggression.
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,” he said. “We don’t have money for other states and this must be resolved by the European Union in another way, but we will not guarantee anything for it, nor will we put money there,” he added.
Outgoing Foreign Minister Jan Lipavský (for ODS) considers the only realistic path to be a loan to Ukraine financed from the cash proceeds of the frozen assets of the Russian central bank. “Ukraine’s needs are urgent and negotiations within the EU must not become a pretext for delaying the aid that Ukraine urgently needs,” he said today in a statement for ČTK.
“The statement of designated Prime Minister Babiš unfortunately confirms the shift of Czech foreign policy away from promoting and defending traditional values and principles in international relations towards cowardice, selfishness and irresponsibility, which will be presented as a wise and pragmatic decision,” the outgoing Minister for European Affairs Martin Dvořák (STAN) told Czech Television. “The saddest thing is that the unwillingness to actively help in the fight against the occupiers may come back to our country when the same aggressor approaches our borders and our Western allies take the same ‘pragmatic’ stance,” he added.
At next week’s summit, EU presidents and prime ministers will decide between two proposed options for financing Ukraine. According to the Commission, the first option is that the EU would obtain capital on the capital markets and use the EU budget as a guarantee. However, this solution requires unanimous approval by EU states. For the second solution, a reparations loan for Kyiv, approval by a qualified majority would be sufficient. (13 December)