Romania receives first tranche of €2.5B under SAFE

Romania has received its first payment of €2.5 billion under the Security Action for Europe (SAFE) defence instrument, representing 15% of its total allocation of €16.7 billion, Report informs referring to the European Commission.

"Today's €2.5 billion payment to Romania under SAFE is a major milestone for European defence and a more sovereign Europe," said Andrius Kubilius, Commissioner for Defence and Space. "This funding will strengthen Romania's defence capabilities and industrial base, while contributing to Europe's overall security. SAFE is a clear demonstration of our strong commitment to European security, and to the resilience and to defence of our Eastern Flank."

SAFE is a €150 billion financial instrument providing loans to Member States.

It primarily funds joint procurement of ammunition, missiles, air defence, and ground combat systems produced within the EU. It is part of the European Commission's ReArm Europe/Readiness 2030 plan, which aims to unlock over €800 billion in defence investment across the European Union.

The pre-financing will help Romania accelerate priority defence investments, strengthen resilience, and modernize its military capabilities in line with shared European goals.

The SAFE instrument is financed by EU borrowing on the financial markets.

This enables competitively priced and attractively structured long-duration loans to requesting Member States.

The terms of the SAFE loans benefit from the EU's strong credit rating.