Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico officially announced that his country will not participate in NATO's new military loan for Ukraine.
On the air of the public radio and television STVR The Prime Minister emphasized that the mandate of the national delegation for the upcoming Alliance summit in Ankara explicitly excludes making such financial commitments. According to him, providing billions for weapons only prolongs the conflict, and the solution must be diplomatic.
The reason for Fico's sharp reaction was the Alliance's plans for a new large-scale military aid package, prepared for the summit (July 7-8, 2026), totaling 70 billion euros ($79.5 billion). The initiative, based on a German proposal from May, aims to ensure long-term and sustainable financing for Kiev by distributing the burden more clearly among allies. However, Fico categorically told STVR that Bratislava would not allocate a single euro from its state budget for weapons under this scheme, describing it as "support for the war". He added that Slovakia would only help the neighboring country with humanitarian funds and the reconstruction of the destroyed energy infrastructure.
The prime minister's decision caused immediate critical reactions from the Slovak pro-European opposition, led by the "Progressive Slovakia" coalition. Opposition leaders accused the government of undermining trust in the country with such isolationist moves and turning it into an "unreliable partner" on the Eastern flank. According to their positions, blocking allied solidarity threatens the long-term security of Slovakia itself within the framework of collective defense. Despite the criticism, Fico remains adamant and announced that he would insist on a special mechanism that would allow Bratislava to explicitly exclude itself from future EU and NATO military packages, without blocking the consensus among the other member states.