[AP]
The Council of the European Union on Tuesday gave the final green light for providing financial assistance to eight member-states, including Greece, under the Security Action for Europe (SAFE) defense initiative.
Following Tuesday’s decision, Estonia, Finland, Greece, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Slovakia will be receiving a total of €74 billion under the second SAFE assistance package. It follows last month’s approval for the plans by the European Commission.
The first batch of plans from Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Denmark, Portugal, Romania and Spain – with a combined value of €38 billion – was approved by the Council last week after a total of 19 member-states applied for financial assistance under SAFE.
“These implementing decisions will pave the way for affordable, long-term loans to be released by the Commission under the SAFE instrument, demonstrating that the EU is delivering when it comes to defence,” a spokesperson for the Cypriot presidency of the Council of the European Union noted.
SAFE is part of a European Commission initiative seeking to bolster the bloc’s security by channelling up to €800 billion into defence by the end of the decade. It aims to provide up to €150 billion in favorable loans to member-states requesting financial assistance for investments in defence capabilities.