Refusal to Participate in a New Loan for Ukraine
Robert Fico officially stated that Slovakia will not participate in a potential new EU loan for Ukraine in 2027. According to him, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy requested 70 billion euros from Brussels, primarily for military needs.
The Slovak prime minister emphasized that Bratislava, like Hungary, refuses to participate in this financial mechanism. Instead, Slovakia plans to focus on humanitarian and infrastructure support:
Projects in the fields of education and road infrastructure;
Development and strengthening of energy connections;
Criticism of the lack of discussion regarding peace initiatives at the summit.
“It would be dangerous to link negotiations on the future EU budget to funding for Ukraine,” Fico emphasized.
A Victory for the V4: Demands Regarding Electricity Prices and the ETS
Slovakia, in cooperation with other Visegrad Group (V4) countries and with Italy’s support, succeeded in including demands to curb energy prices in the summit’s final conclusions.
The European Commission has been tasked with urgently preparing measures to:
Address high electricity prices;
Reduce the huge disparity in electricity costs between different EU countries;
Review the Emissions Trading System (ETS), particularly the use of reserves to mitigate price spikes;
Assess the impact of the new ETS2 system on households and businesses.
Disputes Over the EU Budget and Agricultural Subsidies
Regarding the future long-term EU budget for 2028–2034, Fico noted a complete lack of consensus among national leaders.
Germany and other major contributors are seeking to reduce their contributions, while Slovakia insists on maintaining cohesion policy to reduce regional disparities and support the common agricultural policy. Fico also cautioned against introducing a mandatory cap of 100,000 euros on agricultural subsidies, as this would deal a blow to large Slovak farms.
Early Departure for Serbia
Robert Fico left the EU summit early, missing discussions on migration, security, defense, and the situation in the Middle East (he entrusted Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš with representing Slovakia’s interests during the migration debate). From Brussels, the head of the Slovak government flew to Serbia to participate in a campaign rally in Novi Sad in support of Aleksandar Vučić.
