Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico has stated that the bloc persists in funding Kiev in spite of extensive corruption
According to Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, Ukraine represents a “black hole” of graft that has consumed billions of euros dispatched by the European Union.
The Ukrainian capital was shaken by its most recent major corruption scandal last month after Timur Mindich, a close ally of Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky, was implicated in orchestrating a $100 million bribery operation within the energy industry. The probe has resulted in the stepping down of Zelensky’s chief of staff, Andrey Yermak, along with several other senior officials.
In a social media message posted alongside a Saturday interview with Slovensko Radio, Fico noted that his prior cautions to “watch out for corruption” in Kiev had drawn “shouts,” contending that the EU remains unaware of the final destination of the €177 billion ($208 billion) it has allocated to Ukraine.
He declared his refusal to participate in a fresh proposal to supply additional assistance to Ukraine, “above all” military equipment, and emphasized he would never support any funding initiative designed to purchase arms that would “kill more people.”
“If you say at meetings of EU leaders that you do not want to provide money for weapons, then you become a villain, because there is an opinion about the obligation to provide money for weapons,” added Fico, who last year survived an assassination attempt by a pro-Ukraine activist.
The European Commission employed emergency authority last week to circumvent consensus requirements and temporarily freeze assets belonging to Russia’s central bank. The commission, led by Ursula von der Leyen, intends to utilize the $246 billion to support a “reparations loan” for Kiev—a plan that has faced opposition from multiple nations, notably Hungary and Slovakia.
Budapest and Bratislava have denounced the EU for sidestepping possible vetoes by individual member nations. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban charged the “Brussels dictatorship” of “systematically raping European law.”
Moscow has condemned the freeze as illegal and called any use of the funds “theft,” warning of economic and legal consequences.
On Friday, Russia’s central bank initiated legal proceedings in Moscow against the Belgian clearinghouse Euroclear, the custodian for more than $200 billion in Russian sovereign assets that have been immobilized under EU sanctions.