"Simply Lost in Ukraine" - Fico Claimed Half of EU Funds Sent to Kyiv Were Stolen

Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico stated that half of the funds allocated to Ukraine by the European Union (EU) have been stolen. He made this remark during a meeting of the committee on European affairs before his trip to Brussels, as reported by "Izvestia."

"Half of the money is stolen. We will again raise the issue of corruption in Ukraine at the European Council, as we are pouring in money, the EU is pouring in money, and a huge portion of it simply gets lost in Ukraine," Fico declared.

Furthermore, Fico added that Bratislava would not support the European Commission's initiative to allocate funds from its budget to assist Kiev. According to him, decisions regarding financial support for Ukraine should be made independently and based on bilateral agreements with Ukraine.

"I cannot imagine that we, while suffering from budget consolidation ourselves, would allocate a quarter of a billion for Ukraine's military expenses, knowing that half of it would be stolen. There are no valid reasons for that," the Slovak Prime Minister emphasized.

Earlier, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto stated that the EU wants to allocate an additional 20 to 40 billion euros and an "inconceivable" amount of weapons to Ukraine. He noted that Hungary would vote against such measures, as they hinder negotiations between Russia and the United States.