On Friday in a closed door meeting  of the heads of the EU member states, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said that the EU should seriously consider limiting its spending plans going forward, according to sources familiar with the matter who were cited by Bloomberg.

The contentious meeting reportedly featured infighting, both between leaders, and with the executive arm of the bloc, regarding the proposed spending plan. The infighting went on into the night, as fighting focused around additional spending on Ukraine and funding to address the migration crisis.

Scholz accused the European Commission of merely dealing with spending money, and avoiding a real discussion about reducing broader expenditures, according to sources who were familiar with the situation, but wished to remain anonymous.

The European Commission has been working to come up with the bloc’s 2024 budget for months. December is the official deadline for an agreement, however the movement of monies around within the budget may go on into the new year according to signals from some member states.

Already the bloc’s budget is under stress through 2027 as a result of continued military aid and technical support being supplied to Ukraine in its conflict with Russia, as well as funding for the Covid-19 pandemic, as well as the recent interest rate hikes, which have increased government borrowing expenses as the bloc has struggled with an energy crisis and increasing inflation.

According to Bloomberg, sources said that there were no voices in support of new spending, outside of a €50 billion ($53 billion) financial package for Ukraine.

Given the budget pressures in Brussels and its member states, it is a challenge to allocate funding for Ukraine. In addition, some individual member states, such as Slovakia’s new Prime Minister, and Hungary’s Viktor Orban, have come out publicly in opposition to any new funding for Ukraine.