Poland becomes the first country to receive financing from the SAFE loan for defense procurement

Poland on Friday became the first country to receive part of its 43.7 billion euro allocation from the Security Action for Europe (SAFE) loan program for defense procurement.

Warsaw received 6.6 billion euros, making up 15% of its total allocation.

Last year, a total of 19 countries applied for access to the €150 billion SAFE loan program aimed at boosting joint defense procurement. Warsaw received the largest allocation of funds, followed by Romania, Hungary, France and Italy.

Hungary's plan is the last plan still awaiting Commission approval, KyivPost reports.

"Europe must be prepared for any scenario and ready to act in any circumstances," Technology and Security Commissioner Henna Virkkunen said on Friday, adding that the mechanism "is an essential tool for securing and advancing our continent's urgent military capabilities."

Her comments came after a Russian drone crashed in the eastern Romanian city of Galati, injuring two civilians.

The incident prompted Romania to ask NATO to deploy additional anti-drone capabilities.

Poland has embarked on a wave of signatures since the Commission adopted its SAFE plan earlier this year, recently signing deals to buy trucks, tankers and other munitions from Polish companies.

"By Saturday, there will be 40 contracts worth 100 billion zlotys (23.6 billion euros). We protect, we don't talk," Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on Thursday.

Although the program aims to promote joint procurement, countries can still use SAFE loans for national procurement, as long as contracts are signed within one year of SAFE's entry into force last May.

In such cases, governments are expected to extend the benefits of these contracts to other countries.

Defence Commissioner Andrius Kubilius previously said that 35% of the 150 billion euros committed through the programme was intended solely for national procurement.

So far, five countries have signed a loan agreement with the Commission to receive a first part of their allocation: Poland, Lithuania, Croatia, Romania and most recently, Belgium.

The GeoPost.