00:00Four EU leaders have pushed back against German Chancellor Friedrich Merz's demand to make approval of the bloc's next long
00:06-term budget, conditional on fresh aid for Ukraine.
00:10Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fitzer called the move blackmail and threatened to use his country's veto.
00:16Czech Prime Minister Andrzej Babiš pointed to 100 billion euros already earmarked for Ukraine in the next EU budget, although
00:23the money would only become available from 2028.
00:27Hungarian Prime Minister Peter Macar opposed linking the two issues, saying his country could not take on more EU debt
00:34because of its budget deficit.
00:37Bulgaria's Roman Radev also called for an exemption from future Ukraine credit lines, citing high deficits.
00:43He said Sofia would continue supporting Ukraine through energy supplies.
00:48Brussels has promised around 45 billion euros to help close Ukraine's 70 billion euro funding gap next year.
00:54Merz says support for Kiev is a matter of European security and its costs should be shared more fairly.
