The European Union plans to allocate €20 billion in unused funds under the SAFE program to launch a new call for joint defense projects for the EU and Ukraine. European Commissioner for Defense Andrius Kubilius stated this during a hearing in the European Parliament on October 1, UNN reports.
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"Supporting Ukraine is our strategic priority. russia is escalating; we need to make our support stronger, more effective and more predictable," the EU commissioner said.
He pointed out that "all weapons schedules for the Ukraine Support Loan for 2026 have been approved in the amount of €28.3 billion. This includes PAC-3 interceptors from the United States." "Last week, we allocated another €3.3 billion, bringing the total to €11.7 billion. I am confident that we will be able to allocate all €28.3 billion for 2026 by the end of the year," Kubilius said.
"But this will not be enough. More bilateral support is needed," the European commissioner continued. "This year, Ukraine's defense is facing a shortfall of €23 billion. The reason: unfulfilled promises made by individual countries at the NATO summit in Ankara to provide more than €40 billion."
"We also need to remember: three-quarters of individual support comes from just five European countries. Where are the others?" he noted.
And finally on our support to Ukraine: We have around 20 billion euro in unused SAFE loans. We plan to use them to open a second call, as the President announced in her State of the Union speech. Goal for this second call: to do more with Ukraine, both in Ukraine and in the EU; both for Ukraine and for ourselves given Ukraine's lead in defence innovation