Slovakia’s Fico Rejects EU’s €140 Billion Ukraine Loan Plan

Overview

• Prime Minister Robert Fico said he would never back the proposal, arguing the funding would extend the fighting by two years and confirming Slovakia will not participate while he is in office.
• The European Commission is pressing a plan to create roughly €140 billion in conditional financing for Ukraine using frozen Russian sovereign assets, with repayment tied to any future reparations from Moscow.
• EU member states have not reached consensus on the scheme, which the Commission has framed to cover Ukrainian military needs in 2026–2027.
• After freezing about €300 billion of Russian reserves, more than €200 billion of which are held in EU jurisdictions largely at Belgium’s Euroclear, the EU has already transferred €14 billion to Ukraine from income on those assets this year through September.
• Russian officials have denounced the concepts as unlawful and threatened responses, and Moscow has restricted foreign investors’ funds in special ‘C’ accounts that require government approval for withdrawals.