EC approves SAFE loan agreement with Poland, sources say
The European Commission has approved Poland's agreement on the EU-sponsored defence loan programme, making it ready for signing, sources close to the negotiation team told PAP on Tuesday.
According to the sources, Poland is set to become the first SAFE applicant to sign the defence loan contract.
Earlier on Tuesday, PAP learned from people linked to the EC that EU commissioners Piotr Serafin and Andrius Kubilius are expected to travel to Warsaw to sign the agreement on Friday morning. Warsaw will be represented by Defence Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz and Finance Minister Andrzej Domanski.
Serafin and Kubilius are set to travel later to Lithuania to sign a SAFE agreement with that country.
The same signing date was suggested by Prime Minister Donald Tusk on Monday.
PAP was told the Commission's written procedure concluding the negotiations was successfully completed on Tuesday, formally approving the contract text and authorising the two commissioners to sign on the EU's behalf.
Kosiniak-Kamysz confirmed the news on Thursday evening. "We confirm our position as a leader in security on the eastern flank," he wrote on X.
Approved on February 17, SAFE allocates the total of EUR 150 billion in low-interest loans to participating member states for the purchase of military equipment, preferably from European manufacturers.
With EUR 43.7 billion earmarked for financing its defence programmes, Poland is to be the biggest beneficiary of SAFE among the 19 EU member states that submitted plans to access the mechanism. The government has vowed to channel 89 percent of the funds to the Polish industry and economy. (PAP)
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