Slovakia party to demand Ukraine compensate aid
Lawmakers in Slovakia's ruling coalition will push to demand compensation from Kiev for the military and financial aid Bratislava has provided it over the course of the Ukraine conflict, according to state news agency TASR.
The Slovak National Party (SNS) leader Andrej Danko will call on Prime Minister Robert Fico to begin EU proceedings regarding the bloc's stake in Ukrainian mineral production, following the example of the US, head of the lawmaker's office, Zuzana Skopcova told TASR on Saturday.
Washington, Kiev's biggest military donor, inked a major minerals agreement with it last month, giving the US preferential access to Ukrainian mineral wealth. President Donald Trump has touted the deal as a way for the US to reclaim hundreds of billions of dollars in aid spent on supporting Ukraine. Deputy Economy Minister Taras Kachka has since described the preceding negotiations with the US as something from a 'mafia movie.'
'The European Union's aid is approaching the volume of US aid. If Ukraine hands over all its mineral wealth to the US, Ukraine will have nothing to repay the aid given by European states,' Danko's office director Zuzana Skopcova told TASR on Saturday. It was illogical and unethical of the US to demand exclusive mining rights of Ukraine, Skopcova said, according to TASR.
If Ukraine has already decided to pay for aid during the conflict with the Russian Federation, it is incomprehensible why it does not do so in relation to the EU.
On Monday, Danko plans to ask Slovak Finance Minister Ladislav Kamenicky to tally up the sum of all financial and military assistance Bratislava provided Kiev during the Ukraine conflict, TASR wrote. The SNS wants more than €3 billion ($3.41 billion) in aid compensated in a similar manner as the US has sought, the news agency said.
Under Fico, a long-time critic of EU policy regarding the Ukraine conflict, Bratislava has cut military assistance to Kiev. Last May, he survived an assassination attempt after being shot multiple times by a pro-Ukraine activist.
The US has allocated some $135 billion to aid Ukraine since the escalation of the conflict in 2022, data from Germany's Kiev Institute says. By comparison, the EU has dedicated around $158 billion in total military and financial aid to Kiev over the past three years, according to the European Commission.
Brussels penned an agreement regarding raw materials with Ukraine in 2021. The European Parliament Think Tank has noted that the document gives the EU a stake in Ukraine's mineral wealth, like the US.
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