BRUSSELS, September 22. /TASS/. The Czech Republic is having trouble allocating funds to Ukraine, including military aid, but still intends to continue providing it, the Euractiv portal reported.
According to the news outlet, the Czech Republic was barely able to pay for the last dues increase to the European Peace Fund, which partially finances EU aid to Kiev, in June. This has caused skepticism in Czech official circles about the country's ability to cope with large-scale sponsorship of foreign measures, the portal pointed out. According to its information, despite this situation, the government still wants to continue financing military aid to Ukraine, a task that is becoming harder and harder.
According to Euractiv, the Czech Foreign Ministry is preparing a report about how to solve the financial problem, giving clarity to how much Prague will be able to spend to help Kiev.
On September 19, the Czech News Agency reported that the Netherlands and Denmark would help finance the Czech Republic's military aid to Ukraine. A document to this effect was signed on the sidelines of the meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group at the US’ Ramstein Air Base in Germany. Earlier, the Czech Republic, together with the US and the Netherlands, pledged to provide military aid to Ukraine.
In 2022, the Czech Republic gave the most military aid to Ukraine as a share of its own defense spending. It provided $2.1 billion, or almost half of its military budget, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.