EU member states have submitted applications to receive SAFE loans for defence production in the full amount provided by the programme, namely €150 billion.
This was stated by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen during a joint press conference in Riga with Latvian Prime Minister Evika Siliņa.
“19 Member States, including Latvia, have requested support via our SAFE Defence instrument. I’m pleased to announce that we have reached full subscription of SAFE,” said von der Leyen.
“The whole €150 billion,” von der Leyen stated.
“This is a European success,” the President of the European Commission underlined.
As reported by Ukrinform, the European Commission explained that loans under the European SAFE (Security Action for Europe) program will be provided directly to EU member states. However, Ukraine, which has been allowed to participate in defence production projects under the program, is already actively engaging with European manufacturers to organize joint work.
At the beginning of August, it was reported that 18 EU member states had already expressed interest in obtaining loans totalling €127 billion under the SAFE (Security Action for Europe) defence instrument.
Photo: Office of the President
Source: Defence production: 19 EU countries to take SAFE loans worth €150 billion – von der Leyen
