EU summit approves exemption for Hungary, Slovakia and Czechia

European Union leaders have decided that Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic will not have financial obligations under the decision to provide Ukraine with €90 billion in financial support in 2026-2027.

Earlier, the European Council agreed to grant Ukraine a €90 billion loan for 2026-2027 on the basis of EU borrowing on capital markets, backed by EU budget reserves.

The conclusions state that thanks to enhanced cooperation regarding the instrument based on Article 212 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, "any mobilisation of resources of the Union budget as a guarantee for this loan will have no impact on the financial obligations of the Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia".

The President of the European Commission has stressed that this interest-free loan will not become a burden on Ukraine's budget and that the country will only have to repay it once it receives reparations.

On 17 December, the new Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš called for money to be found for financial assistance to Ukraine in a way other than through the use of frozen Russian assets.