Media: EU Agrees on €150 Billion Rearmament Fund

EU countries have agreed on proposals to create a new credit mechanism called Security Action for Europe, worth €150 billion, aimed at strengthening Europe’s defense.

Reuters reported on this.

The Fund will offer loans to EU members and certain other countries, such as Ukraine, to develop the defense industry.

It is noted that on Monday, May 19, under Poland’s chairmanship, representatives of EU countries provisionally approved the text of the proposed regulation.

The decision is expected to be officially adopted at a meeting on Wednesday.

After that, the agreed draft will be presented at a meeting of European affairs ministers next week.

Once it is approved and published in the Official Journal of the EU, it will enter into force. Thus, the SAFE program could start operating in early June.

Defence24 noted that the support could include, among other things, Polish Krab self-propelled howitzers, Piorun man-portable air-defense systems (MANPADS), or the latest Borsuk infantry fighting vehicles (IFVs).

The media explains that the SAFE program is a European Union initiative to enhance Europe’s defense capabilities by supporting the arms industry.

The program covers the creation of a €150 billion fund, primarily in the form of loans, to stimulate weapons production and strengthen the European defense sector.

The European Union will also allocate an additional €900 million from the revenues generated by frozen Russian assets to purchase weapons and ammunition for Ukraine.

This decision will increase the total amount of recent support for Ukraine’s defense industry to €3.3 billion.