Unused funds from the European SAFE defence programme will be redirected to support Ukraine. They will be used to finance joint projects with Ukrainian defence companies.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced this during her annual State of the European Union address, Politico writes.
“With the remaining SAFE funds, we will launch a new programme for joint projects with Ukrainian companies,” von der Leyen said.
SAFE is an EU programme worth €150bn that provides member states with concessional loans for defence needs. Some EU countries did not make full use of the funding available to them, leaving money unspent.
It is now planned to redirect it to a new programme of joint projects with Ukrainian defence companies.
According to von der Leyen, this will make it possible to combine Ukraine’s combat experience and the potential of its defence-industrial complex with European defence manufacturers.
The funds are expected to be used to support weapons production directly in Ukraine and to develop joint defence projects with European partners.
- On 8 September, the European Union agreed to an exception for Ukraine and allocated $3.5bn for our country’s air defence.