Germany wants EU countries to commit to covering Ukraine's budget gap next year, before talks on the bloc's next long-term budget begin. The demand is in a letter from Chancellor Friedrich Merz to Antonio Costa.
The letter says: "The collective commitment of all of us, without exception, to contribute fairly to closing this gap is an essential precondition for solving this problem." Berlin makes that commitment a condition for any talks on the new long-term budget.
Four EU countries have already signalled they will not take part in any extra financial aid for Kyiv: Bulgaria, Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic. Last year Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic were allowed not to pay the interest on the €90bn loan to Ukraine.
Three MPs from the budget committee spoke to journalists in the National Assembly about Germany's call.
Asen Vasilev of We Continue the Change said Progressive Bulgaria and Radev must understand that the EU rests on solidarity between its members in all policy areas. He said a country cannot take only what it likes and block what it finds inconvenient. Anyone who wants to block something must win over enough other countries to back its position, he said.
Vasilev pointed to Bulgaria's stance on Macedonia as an example. Once Sofia found allies, he said, its position in practice became the EU's position, and the pressure shifted to Macedonia. "While we sat in the corner with our veto, all the attacks were aimed at Bulgaria, saying we were blocking Macedonia's entry into the EU," Vasilev said. That is how foreign policy is made, he said, not by sitting in a corner.
Tsoncho Ganev of Revival said he believes Merz's appeal is aimed at Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovenia, not Bulgaria. He said the countries that have announced a veto, and which the chancellor is addressing, belong to the Visegrad Four. Ganev claimed Bulgaria has said it does not back the aid only in words: at the European Council, he said, Radev did nothing to show he would use a veto.
Ganev accused the government of following the line of Borisov and Peevski by doing everything the EU wants, and of lacking the courage to defend national interests. He called most of those in power people who agree with absolutely everything. He wants a veto on every proposal for new tranches for Ukraine, together with Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovenia if necessary. He said Ukraine's debts are over 300bn. "We must firmly oppose digging our own grave yet again by giving money to Ukraine, a bankrupt state," Ganev said.
Vladislav Goranov of GERB said any reservations by Bulgaria about such support would be a crime against humanity. He said European countries' solidarity with attacked Ukraine must go on, because the end of the war is far off. Goranov said Radev's double-dealing, saying one thing in Europe and another in Bulgaria, puts the whole direction of the state at risk, and Bulgaria must be part of the common European decision.