Unlike Hungary and Slovakia, the Czech Republic approved the decision of the EU summit on Ukraine, but refused to provide guarantees for loans to Kiev.
Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis announced this to reporters.
„The Czech Republic has a different position than Hungary and Slovakia. These two countries de facto refused to approve the results of the European Council meeting. We approved them, but on the condition that we do not guarantee these loans to Ukraine“, Babis noted.
The new Czech government, he said, seeks to preserve the funds from the national budget. "We are clearly stating that the money is needed by Czech citizens," the prime minister said, stressing that the country's internal stability is a priority.
Babiš questioned the appropriateness of granting new loans to Ukraine over the next two years. "If we are already so close to achieving peace, I see no logic in approving loans for 2026 and 2027," he said. He argued that the funds for Ukraine's reconstruction should be found primarily from frozen Russian assets, but only after the fighting ends and the issue of providing security guarantees to the parties to the conflict is resolved.