The amount left over will become clear once revised plans from Italy and Hungary have been assessed, a European Commission spokesman said. Ukraine could benefit from between €10 billion and €20 billion left over from the EU’s SAFE defense funding initiative, a European Commission spokesman has said. The amount remaining from the Security Action for Europe program will become clear after funding applications from Italy and Hungary have been assessed, Thomas Regnier said on Friday. Most EU member states have already included Ukraine in their SAFE defense spending plans through joint procurement projects, Regnier said, adding that the remaining funds would probably be used in a similar way. New program EC President Ursula von der Leyen had already indicated that Kyiv would benefit from unused SAFE funds. “With the remaining funds from SAFE, we will set up a new program for joint projects with Ukrainian companies,” von der Leyen said during her annual address to the European Parliament on September 16. SAFE provides low-interest loans aimed at accelerating European defense procurement and strengthening the continent’s defense industry. Hungary has dramatically cut its plans to use funds from the €150 billion available under SAFE, reducing its application to just €5.4 billion from the roughly €16 billion previously allocated. Italy has also scaled back its plans, submitting an updated request for just over €8 billion against original plans for almost €15 billion.
