The EU and partners are currently discussing a new €70 billion loan to support Ukraine in the next year against sustained Russian attacks. The EU plans to shoulder about €45 billion of the loan, while other allies like Britain, Canada and Japan are expected to stump up the remaining €25 billion.

Merz argued that he does not want to repeat last year’s approach, when a different €90 billion loan for Ukraine was agreed only with financial guarantees and liabilities from most EU countries, while three nations — Czechia, Hungary and Slovakia — secured an opt-out.

“In my view, continuing down this path is not a good option. We must fully incorporate Ukraine policy into the EU budget,” he said.

However, that view is not shared by Magyar, who came to Berlin with four ministers and a state secretary to discuss deeper cooperation, underlining the general rapprochement between Germany and Hungary after years of icy relations under Budapest’s previous leader Viktor Orbán.

“I would like to note here — diplomatically and with all due respect as the Hungarian prime minister — that I do not necessarily consider it the right approach for the European budget, which is actually intended for seven years and for Europe,” to be “linked to other matters,” Magyar said.