Polish firms to access new EU defence loan scheme
Polish defence companies will be able to obtain financing from the European Union's newly-agreed special-purpose loan programme, PAP has learnt from a source in the bloc's administration.
On Wednesday, ambassadors from EU member states agreed in Brussels on a new loan programme designed to boost the bloc's investments in defence, including the manufacturing of ammunition and military equipment.
The agreement was reached after Poland proposed a text that was backed by all member states, which allowed for the existing contracts to be included in the loan plan.
"The agreement on the SAFE loan instrument reached today by the Polish presidency of the Council of European Union is an important step toward a stronger Europe," President of the European Council Antonio Costa wrote on the X platform on Wednesday. "It delivers on the commitments made by EU leaders in March, helping member states invest jointly in European defence and strengthening our shared security."
Poland's EU affairs minister, Adam Szlapka, wrote on X on Wednesday afternoon that the adoption of the programme was "a great success" of the Polish presidency.
"It is EUR 150 billion for the development of the defence industry," he wrote.
Polish Defence Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz told a press conference in Warsaw on Wednesday that "Europe has awakened."
"For the first time in history, Europe will delegate adequate means, spend money on armaments so that nation states, national armies within the North Atlantic Alliance would be stronger, so that NATO's operational capabilities would be better."
The EUR 150 billion loan plan, dubbed Security Action for Europe (SAFE), will also be accessible to projects by Ukraine, Norway and Switzerland in collaboration with an EU state, as well as to countries which enter into defence partnerships with the bloc.
In Brussels on Tuesday, Kosiniak-Kamysz said that Poland hoped to be able to secure PLN 120-130 billion (EUR 28-30 bln) from the programme's total funds.
The financing would be directed to Polish defence companies which manufacture, for example, the Piorun anti-missile defence systems, Krab self-propelled howitzers or Borsuk infantry fighting vehicles.
The programme is to launch in June, following its approval by the bloc's EU affairs ministers next week and publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.
Poland will hold the six-month rotating presidency of the EU Council until the end of June. (PAP)
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