In a striking turn of events that lays bare the deepening rift within the European Union, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has issued open threats against Hungary and Slovakia, warning that Berlin and Brussels may cut off vital EU funding if the two nations continue charting their own path on Russia and Ukraine.
But the governments of Budapest and Bratislava are pushing back—and hard.
The Merz regime’s thinly veiled blackmail came during remarks at the WDR Europaforum, where he declared, “We will not be able to avoid a conflict with Hungary and Slovakia if we continue on this course.” According to Merz, the EU cannot let “a small minority”—read: sovereign states with independent foreign policies—“dictate” the bloc’s direction. His not-so-subtle message? Fall in line with the EU’s failing Ukraine policies, or face financial punishment.
Merz added, “Member states that violate the rule of law can face infringement procedures, and there is always the possibility of withdrawing European funds. If necessary, we will take care of it.” Translation: do as Brussels says or else.
Chancellor Merz on Slovakia and Hungary pic.twitter.com/wnp5WmRqQT
— Pindo (@POTFES) May 27, 2025
The real crime, however, is in the eyes of the EU elite. Hungary and Slovakia refuse to buy into the fantasy that the endless flow of weapons to Kyiv will somehow bring peace. Instead, both nations have called for diplomacy and a negotiated settlement—a position much more in line with US President Donald Trump’s America First vision than with the war-hungry dogma of globalist-infested Brussels and Berlin.
Prime Minister Viktor Orbán of Hungary has long sounded the alarm about the EU’s economic suicide through sanctions. Hungary, which continues to purchase Russian gas and nuclear fuel, has rightly pointed out that these sanctions hurt European families far more than they hurt the Kremlin. In March, Budapest blocked a joint EU declaration on Ukraine’s EU membership and vowed to veto any moves to eliminate Russian energy imports.
Slovakia, meanwhile, has returned to common sense under Prime Minister Robert Fico. Since regaining power in 2023, Fico has halted weapons shipments to Ukraine, refused to be dragged into NATO’s escalation games, and has begun repairing his nation’s energy relationship with Moscow. He’s even dared to say aloud what few in Brussels will admit: “Europe needs Russia, and Russia needs Europe.”
Unsurprisingly, the EU globalists can’t stand this.
Fico, never one to mince words, blasted Merz’s threats as “absolutely unacceptable in modern Europe.” Speaking during a visit to Armenia, the Slovak leader said, “Slovakia is not a little schoolchild that needs to be lectured. The politics of a single mandatory opinion is the end of democracy.” He added that such an authoritarian mindset is “not the path toward cohesion and cooperation,” warning that “if we don’t respect democratic standards and national sovereignty, this could lead Europe to World War III.”
SLOVAKIA IS NOT A LITTLE SCHOOLCHILD THAT NEEDS TO BE LECTURED
Slovakia’s sovereign positions do not stem from vanity, but are based on our national interests.
The politics of a single mandatory opinion is a denial of sovereignty and democracy.
When you hear such aggressive… pic.twitter.com/xr1WexRZny— Robert Fico (@RobertFicoSVK) May 27, 2025
Indeed, the situation is growing more Orwellian by the day. While Merz warns Hungary and Slovakia of funding cuts over their ‘pro-Russian’ positions, it’s his own government that’s overseeing skyrocketing energy prices, growing dependence on coal, and economic stagnation—all thanks to Berlin’s self-imposed rejection of Russian energy and the obsession with ideological climate policy.
And the double standards don’t stop there. Hungary has long faced threats, frozen funds, and institutional sabotage from the EU over its defense of traditional values and national sovereignty. Just last month, Prime Minister Orbán accused Brussels of working with Hungary’s left-wing opposition to topple his government by choking off EU resources. “They agreed to destroy the Hungarian economy, the Hungarian healthcare system, and the living standards of Hungarians, in order to help the Tisza party come to power,” Orbán said.
Meanwhile, in Slovakia, the EU dispatched a “budgetary control” delegation to dig up dirt and apply pressure—a political stunt dismissed by Slovak Interior Minister Matúš Šutaj Eštok as a “punitive expedition.” He rightly called it an attempt to paint Slovakia as a “black hole on the map of Europe.”
Despite these attacks, the Hungarian and Slovak governments have refused to waver. They have consistently supported humanitarian aid to Ukraine, maintained economic stability at home, and—unlike their Western counterparts—acted in the genuine interests of their own people.
The truth is becoming impossible to hide: the EU, led by Germany, is no longer a club of sovereign nations cooperating for mutual benefit. It has morphed into an empire of compliance, where disobedience to Brussels’ ideological line is met with threats, blackmail, and financial warfare.
Fico and Orbán are not the problem—they are the last defenders of democracy, sovereignty, and sanity in a Europe rapidly spiraling into technocratic tyranny.
In the words of Robert Fico: “If someone wants to implement the politics of only one mandatory view, then it is the end of democracy in Europe.” And he’s absolutely right.
The post Germany’s Threats to Hungary and Slovakia Expose the EU’s Globalist Authoritarian Drift, Say Fico and Orbán appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.