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Merz links EU budget veto to Ukraine aid, DW reports

Slovak and Czech leaders accuse Germany's chancellor of coercion, while MEP Riho Terras defends collective funding as essential to European security.

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DW News Story of November 12, 2026Trari Newsroom

Why this story? One of DW News's most watched videos since yesterday, with 149,853 views.

Germany’s Merz takes heat for EU-wide Ukraine financing demands | DW News

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0:11Fico calls Merz's demand blackmail; Babiš argues that EU membership does not subordinate sovereign nations.
0:41Okwu outlines Ukraine's projected funding gap and Merz's proposed link to the next long-term EU budget.
1:36Merz says support for Ukraine is a shared EU responsibility, rather than a task for individual members.
2:11Magyar rejects linking the bloc's general budget to external aid.
9:44Terras defends collective support for Ukraine as necessary for European security.

Germany's next EU budget negotiation could become a test of whether every member state must help finance Ukraine. According to DW News, Chancellor Friedrich Merz is threatening to veto the bloc's next long-term budget unless support for Kyiv becomes a collective commitment.

The demand has drawn sharp objections from Slovakia and the Czech Republic. In clips carried by DW, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico calls it "typical blackmail," while Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš insists that EU members are sovereign nations, not subordinate to anyone.

Host Michael Okwu sets out the financial stakes: Ukraine faces a projected €70 billion funding gap, according to the report. Merz wants contributions addressed through negotiations over the EU's next seven-year budget. Those long-term spending frameworks require unanimous agreement among member states, giving a threatened veto practical weight.

Merz describes supporting Ukraine as "a common responsibility of the European Union." Hungarian Prime Minister Peter Magyar also objects to linking the general budget with external aid, though DW presents his response as more measured than those of Fico and Babiš.

DW chief political editor Michaela Küfner explains Berlin's push to secure a commitment from all members and examines Merz's domestic political position. The program then turns to Estonian MEP Riho Terras, a former defense chief, who rejects the blackmail characterization. His argument is that supporting Ukraine is necessary for Europe's own security, and that Europe has the capacity to provide that support.