Senior European officials played down fears that potential election victories by Ukraine-sceptic parties in France and Germany could undermine support for Kyiv, saying European backing would endure as Ukraine heads into winter with air-defence and funding shortfalls.
Marine Le Pen said she would, if elected president, continue training Ukrainian troops, supplying equipment and backing the Coalition of the Willing, but said, “We can no longer provide financial support to Ukraine.” France’s bilateral financial assistance this year has been only a few hundred million euros, though it is one of Kyiv’s strongest political backers. Germany’s AfD won two regional elections in the east this month and leads national polls. It calls Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s Ukraine support—estimated at more than €12 billion this year—costly and unnecessarily provocative, and seeks to restore energy ties with Russia.
Finnish President Alexander Stubb said past fears about election outcomes, including those over Giorgia Meloni’s election in Italy, had been overstated. He expected NATO’s eastern-flank countries to remain Ukraine’s backbone if support waned elsewhere. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha acknowledged risks but said Kyiv remained confident in long-term support; Poland’s Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski voiced concern about the AfD’s pro-Russian stance.
