Most European Union leaders meeting for an EU summit in Brussels on October 27 backed granting more financial support to Ukraine as it fights a Russian invasion, but Hungary and Slovakia voiced reservations ahead of a decision the bloc needs to make unanimously in December.
The EU executive has proposed that the bloc's 27 countries chip in more funds in a revision to its shared budget to finance additional shared spending through 2027, including extending $52.8 billion in new aid to Kyiv.
Overall EU support for Ukraine has totaled almost 83 billion euros since Russia invaded in February 2022, the European Commission said this week.
New Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico emphasized in a debate with other EU leaders that he wanted guarantees that EU money given to Ukraine would not be misappropriated, his office said on October 27.
"Ukraine is among the most corrupt countries in the world and we are conditioning what is excessive financial support on guarantees that European money (including Slovak) will not be embezzled," Fico said in a statement.
He said part of the money should go to renewing Slovakia's infrastructure along its eastern border with Ukraine, RFE/RL reports.
