Slovenia to support Czech shells-for-Ukraine initiative

Slovenia will support the Czech initiative to purchase shells for Ukraine from outside the European Union, Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavský said on Tuesday during a working visit to Ljubljana. According to the Slovenian news agency, the government will allocate one million euros in support of the project.

Later today, the Czech foreign minister will hold talks in Ljubljana with his counterparts from Slovakia, Slovenia, Austria and Hungary. The C5 meeting of Central European states will cover EU enlargement and decision-making processes, aid to Ukraine and measures to curb illegal migration.

There are divides among the five countries on continued military support for Ukraine and also the decision making mechanisms in the EU, with Slovakia and Hungary refusing to provide Ukraine with further military aid and insisting that EU member states retain the right of veto in foreign-policy decision making. Regardless of the differences, Minister Lipavsky recently stressed that it is important to maintain dialogue.