Slovaks raise almost €4 million for Ukraine's ammunition despite authorities' refusal to help

Slovaks raise almost €4 million for Ukraine's ammunition (photo: Getty Images)

After the Slovak authorities refused to support the Czech initiative to raise funds and search for ammunition for Kyiv, residents decided to raise funds on their own.

In 12 days, the people of Slovakia have raised almost four million euros. The money is to be used to buy shells for Ukraine.

As of April 27, 3,883,879 euros have been raised, and a total of 60,552 people have joined the campaign.

The organizers of the collection earlier said that the campaign is aimed at showing that the majority does not agree with the change in the government's foreign policy after the September elections.

Slovakia refuses to help Ukraine

RBC-Ukraine reported that last year, Slovakia held parliamentary elections. Robert Fico became the Prime Minister. He is known for his pro-Russian stance and actively opposes the transfer of weapons to Ukraine.

After Fico took over the government, Slovakia stopped providing military aid to Ukraine. However, on April 11, Fico announced a major assistance to Ukraine in demining.

Czech initiative to purchase shells

At the beginning of the year, Czech President Petr Pavel said he had found a large number of shells outside the EU.

We reported that Ukraine's allies had allocated almost all the necessary funds to purchase artillery shells under the Czech initiative.

At the end of March, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said that thanks to the Czech initiative, a large amount of ammunition would be sent to Ukraine in the near future.