The EU’s SAFE instrument provides €150 billion in low-interest loan payments to help member states invest in defense spending Warsaw is set to submit its first application for a tranche of funds under an EU defense loan program designed to provide member states with billions of euros for boosting military spending this week, a Polish minister has said. Magdalena Sobkowiak-Czarnecka, deputy defense minister, said that Poland’s first application under the EU’s Security Action for Europe (SAFE) loan initiative would be submitted to the European Commission on Friday, Polish state news agency PAP reported. The application will cover more than €6 billion in cash from the fund, Sobkowiak-Czarnecka said on Tuesday, with Warsaw also set to present a report outlining the projects that will be financed by the instrument. Most of the money from SAFE will be funneled into domestic defense projects, she added. The SAFE initiative is a €150 billion low-interest loan facility designed to help EU countries invest in weapons, ammunition and other military technology as Europe ramps up defense spending amid Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine and the threat of hybrid warfare posed by Moscow. Poland gets the lion’s share Poland is set to receive nearly €44 billion under the program – more than any other member state – to support more than a 100 defense projects. Warsaw in May already received an advance payment of €6.5 billion under the facility, PAP reported. Sobkowiak-Czarnecka, cited by the outlet, said last week that the defense ministry’s Armaments Agency has already concluded dozens of contracts worth 120 billion złoty (€27.2 billion) to be funded by SAFE, with more than 99% of the orders being fulfilled by Polish firms. An additional 16 contracts worth 3.4 billion złoty (€772 million) have been finalized by Poland’s Cyberspace Defense Forces, the deputy defense minister added.
Poland is eligible for almost €44 billion in SAFE funds to boost military spending. Photo: NurPhoto/Contributor via Getty Images
