On Thursday, April 23, 2026, during the opening day of a two-day informal meeting of European Union heads of state and government in Nicosia, Cyprus, the European Commission announced that it had submitted agreements for 18 countries under the SAFE (Security Action for Europe) loan program.
Photos: Ursula von der Layen via X
Poland is an essential pillar of Europe’s security architecture, I told Donald Tusk. You help keep our Eastern flank safe. This is why Poland is the biggest beneficiary of SAFE. Today we issued a loan agreement that would release €43 billion for defence projects that make our Union safer. Let’s move forward.
Ursula von der Layen
No time to wait! Today, 18 Member States have received their loan agreements for SAFE funding for completion. Next steps – finalisation of agreements and signing! A game changer for European defence industry
European Commissioner for Defence and Space Andrius Kubilius
The final text of the SAFE agreement was sent today to European capitals, including Warsaw. This marks the end of several weeks of negotiations between the member states and the European Commission. For clarity, let me recall that the terms of the mechanism and the agreement are the same for all EU countries.
Magdalena Sobkowiak-Czarnecka, Government Plenipotentiary for the Security Action for Europe Instrument
After meeting with the head of the European Commission, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said at a press briefing:
There is no question of rushing anyone. I only want our decision – that BGK is the institutional partner on the Polish side – to be treated as secure from the point of view of European procedures. (…) This requires, I would say, a somewhat more flexible approach, and our partners in the Commission understand that.
He added that, among others, the European Commission wants Poland to spend the maximum amount of money from this loan.
No one here is thinking about how to use procedures against this project. And Poland is treated as an absolutely key element of this mechanism. Everyone will work together with us to ensure that all the funds at our disposal can be spent effectively and quickly, he concluded.
On January 26 of this year, the European Commission issued a positive opinion on Poland’s applications to finance 139 defense-related tasks worth 43,734,100,805 EUR under the SAFE loan program. They were submitted to Brussels on November 29, 2025. The list of tasks was published by the government on February 27 of this year during a presentation at PIT-Radwar’s facilities in Kobyłka near Warsaw. The list is dominated by the Polish defense industry, both state-owned and private. The first contract concerns 18 battery modules of air defense systems with the capability to counter unmanned aerial systems, procured under the San program for around 15 billion PLN, and concluded with Polish, Norwegian, and Danish industry.
On March 10, President Karol Nawrocki announced an alternative bill on the Polish Defense Investment Fund concerning the implementation of the “Polish SAFE 0%” concept. Then, on March 12, he vetoed the bill on the SAFE Financial Instrument for Enhancing Security, which was intended to introduce the legal framework for the orderly use of funds from the European SAFE instrument.
A day later, Prime Minister Donald Tusk announced the Armed Poland program, intended to offset the effects of the presidential veto. In turn, on March 24, a group of MPs from PSL–Third Way submitted to the Sejm a parliamentary bill on the Polish Defense Investment Fund, which, according to its intent, is meant to correct the flaws in the presidential bill.
SAFE for 18 countries
The European Commission approved plans for 18 of the 19 applicant countries. The amount of 16,216,720,524 EUR for Hungary has still not been approved.
The remaining countries for which the European Commission approved applications are:
- Belgium – 8 340 027 698 EUR;
- Bulgaria – 3 261 700 000 EUR;
- Croatia – 1 700 000 000 EUR;
- Cyprus – 1 181 503 924 EUR;
- Denmark – 46 796 822 EUR;
- Estonia – 2 343 897 000 EUR;
- Finland – 1 000 000 000 EUR;
- Greece – 787 669 283 EUR;
- Italy – 14 900 000 000 EUR;
- Latvia – 3 497 870 000 EUR;
- Lithuania – 6 375 487 000 EUR;
- Portugal – 5 841 179 332 EUR;
- Romania – 16 680 055 394 EUR;
- Slovakia – 2 316 674 361 EUR;
- Spain – 1 000 000 000 EUR;
- Czechia – 2 060 000 000 EUR;
- France – 16 216 720 524 EUR.
No time to wait!
Today, 18 Member States have received their loan agreements for #SAFE funding for completion.
Next steps – finalisation of agreements and signing!
A game changer for European defence industry 🇪🇺 https://t.co/6iqTYIXUG8
— Andrius Kubilius (@KubiliusA) April 23, 2026
Finalny tekst umowy SAFE trafił dziś do europejskich stolic, w tym do Warszawy.
To zakończenie etapu wielotygodniowych negocjacji pomiędzy krajami członkowskimi a Komisją Europejską. Dla porządku przypominam – warunki mechanizmu i umowa jest taka sama dla wszystkich krajów UE.…
— Magdalena Sobkowiak (@magdasobkowiak) April 23, 2026
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